The Ties That Bind
by bch035
Summary: In Harry's day, Voldemort has risen a second time, but what happened during the first time? Join Severus Snape, James Potter, and orignal characters as they watch the Dark Lord's first rise to power, and find out exactly how the ties bind them all.
1. The Beginning

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 1: ****The Beginning**

(I know, not particularly original, but it's the one that fit the best.)

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  You know the drill.

The J. in Remus J. Lupin is for my sister.  I normally wouldn't have put it there.

And let the fun began:

"Lily!  Slow down, girl," Jessica was having a harder time sailing upstairs as fast as her best friend.

            Once safely in Lily's room, she and Lily talked a mile a minute in an attempt to catch up before supper.  Jessica normally resided in the United States, Texas to be precise, while Lily resided in England.  They only got to see each other when their parents had a business meeting.  Jessica's father invested in Lily's father's shoe business.  

About 15 minutes before supper, Jessica asked, "So, which school are you going to this fall?"

            Lily looked away.  "It's one not many people have heard of.  Not even the postal service.  You'll have to mail your letters to Mum and Dad.  They'll forward it to me."

            Jesse caught on to Lily's sudden aloofness and asked, "What's the name of the school?"

            "Hogwarts.  It's a really weird name, I know—"

            "Hogwarts?"  Jesse said in utter shock.  This couldn't be happening to her.  Lily a…a…  "Thee Hogwarts?  You sure?  But you're a—oh, man.  Of all the Muggles in the world, Lily Evans just happens to be a Mudblood—no, offense of course."

            "Hogwarts.  You've heard of Hogwarts?"  Lily asked, stunned.

            "Lemme see your entrance letter," Jesse said, reaching her hand out.

            "But…I can't."  Lily frowned.

            "Trust me on this one, Lil.  I know what I'm saying."  When Lily still looked hesitant, Jesse smiled.  "I think you and I have the same entrance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

            Lily's jaw dropped as she looked upon her best friend with new eyes.

"Dad!  Dad!"  Jessica didn't think she could get down the steps fast enough, Lily following so closely on her heels that they were in danger of tumbling.

"Mum!  Dad!  You won't believe this!"

Jessica tripped part way down the steps.  It was right onto the midway landing.  Lily barely missed her but didn't take too much notice.  When Jessica got up, she turned to glare at the tripper—Petunia, Lily's younger sister.  "You little brat.  You're lucky I don't hex you," she snarled before turning back to follow Lily down and missed the hatred in Petunia's gaze.

Jessica's father was sitting across from Lily's mother and father in their living room having some tea.  When Jessica's father gave her a sharp look for the immature fashion of the intrusion, she thrust Lily's entrance letter in front of him.  Not willing to slap her away in public, he looked at the letter a second and went to scold her before stopping and taking a second look.  "Lily got an entrance letter from Hogwarts.  She's a Mudblood—Muggle born witch, Dad.  Can you believe it?"

"You told her, Lily?"  Her father started in a scolding voice before turning to Jessica and Jeffery.  "Sorry, Jeffery.  Lily's playing games, making up her own—"

Thomas Evans stopped however when Jeffery slid his wand out from the sleeve of his suit jacket.  "Hogwarts is a fine school, Tom.  Went there myself as a youngster, Slytherin House.  I'm sending Jessica there this fall to follow in my footsteps."

            Jessica smiled at her father.  "I'm hoping I can live up to that standard, Father," she pacified, hoping he couldn't detect the detest streaming through her veins.  She knew, however, he couldn't hear it.  Years of practice had taught her how to keep it out of her voice…most of the time at least.  Jessica then gave a real smile to Lily.  "Hey, we can take you to Diagon Alley to buy your things."

            "Oh, Jessica, I've been meaning to tell you.  I have to leave tomorrow morning, so all I can do is just bring you through the entrance.  I'm sure you can handle the rest yourself."

            Jessica nodded at her father.  To Lily, she said, "When are you going to get your stuff?"

            "They said they would send someone tomorrow afternoon, but I got my list yesterday."

            Jeffery spoke up.  "I'll send an owl from the hotel tonight and tell them not to send anybody.  You and your parents arrive at the hotel at 10 tomorrow, and I'll bring you through the entrances.  Jessica can teach you the ropes from there."

*          *          *

            Morning couldn't come soon enough for Jessica.  All her life she had to hide this secret from her best friend and now!  Not only could she share it with Lily, Lily was a witch herself!  Of course, she couldn't tell Lily everything about herself.  Some Lily would learn through rumors, others Jessica wished to keep locked within herself for all eternity.  But this secret was one she had always wanted to tell Lily.

            Jeffery Ziners was waiting near the door rather impatiently, something that didn't horribly surprise his daughter.  Jessica's father had never been a patient man.  Finally, though at 10:01, Lily Evans and her parents arrived, excitement stirring the air around them.

            "Let's go," Jeffery said, pushing past them out the door they had just arrived through.  The Evans' followed Jeffery, and Lily and Jessica picked up the rear.

            "I'm nervous."

            Jessica laughed loudly but quieted when her father threw her a glare.

            "Don't worry.  Diagon Alley is a nice place.  Knockturn Alley is one to be nervous for, not Diagon.  I'm sure though that it'll probably be a little overwhelming at first, but it's a rather nice place.  Just stick close to me."

            To the confusion of the Muggles and the Muggle Witch, Jeffery led them into a local pub called the Leaky Cauldron.  Jeffery ignored every person who called his name as he led the group to the backroom and the doorway to another world.

*          *          *

            Lily was nervous and excited but not enough so to not feel a change in Jessica.  It was the subtle tensing of her body that first alerted her that something was up.  She pulled her eyes from the brick wall Mr. Ziners was tapping with his wand to her friend.  Jessica's eyes were looking over her shoulder.  Lily followed the line of sight and only caught a brief glimpse of a man before a waitress stepped in the way.  He was in his 30s and rather handsome but the look he was giving Jessica belayed to any charm he might have had to go along with his looks.  Lily looked back at Jessica.  Her friend avoided any gaze as she looked back at the wall as it folded open.

*          *          *

            "This is Gringotts Bank, our first stop," Jessica said as she led them inside.  "I'll get you set up then I have to go to my own vault to pick up some money."

            It didn't take her long to get them set up with a goblin.  Jessica turned toward the carts that would take her to her vault when she spotted a handsome pair.  She smiled.  She needed to talk to one of them anyway, and their vault was next to hers.  She briskly made her way over to the father and son.

            "James, Mr. Potter!  Can I ride with you to your vault?"  

            James looked expectantly at his father.  Marcus Potter was a devilishly handsome man.  His unruly hair and glasses, rather than taking away from his appeal, added to it.  He smiled at the young girl.  "Sure, Jessica."  It wasn't until they were settled onto the cart that Jessica spoke again.  She leaned towards James.  "I need to ask you a favor when we stop."

            He nodded silently.

            "So how is everything back in the States?"  Marcus asked.

            Jessica shrugged.  "Normal."  It wasn't a lie.

            Marcus nodded to her after giving her a long look.  She hated when he did that.  It always made her wonder if he knew more than he let on.

            When they were stopped and the Goblin was unlocking the Potter vault, Jessica nodded for James to move a little close (and away from Marcus).  "I have a friend coming to Hogwarts," she murmured.  "Name's Lily Evans.  I was wondering if you just keep an eye on her when you can."

            "Don't think she'll be in Slytherin?"

            "Gosh no.  Too nice for that.  She has a stubborn streak but not gruesome enough to be put with me.  Plus, she's a mud—Muggle born."

            James looked at Jessica for a minute and she knew he was debating whether or not to scold her almost use of the negative term, but, in the end, his 'all Slytherins are evil' side lost.  "Okay."

            Jessica nodded her thanks before heading off with the Goblin to her vault.

*          *          *

            Jessica grabbed a small snowy white owl.  She held it up, examining it from all angles.

            "I thought you said you already had an owl," Lily commented, holding her soon to be own barn owl.

            Jessica nodded.  "I do.  It's just I want this to be a special communication owl between myself and Casey."  Her Uncle Danny had slipped her the money for it just before her and her dad left Texas.  He said that she needed to keep up with her special relationship with her little brother.  He had also subtly suggested that she could send it to his house, and he would give it to Casey.  Jessica knew that her Uncle Danny had a suspicion of what 'normal life' was like for Jessica also, but she didn't think he even really had an idea, just a small suggestion.  Jessica would make use Uncle Danny's house as delivery still anyway.

            The two friends purchased their loot and went outside to Lily's parents.  Jessica shrugged.  "I guess that's it."

            "Where are you staying between here and school?  Are you going home?"  Mr. Evans asked.  "You could stay with us," he suggested.

            Jessica shook her head with a thankful smile.  These people were so wonderful to her.  "I can't.  I'm staying with my godmother and her family.  She begged my dad for some time with me before I go to school."

            Lily's parents nodded and Jessica led them back to the entrance.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans hugged her tearfully before Lily grabbed her tightly in a hug.  "I'll miss you."

            Jessica smiled.  "I know."  As they pulled apart, Jessica looked Lily straight in the eye.  "Be at King's Cross at the time the letter says.  Meet me between platforms 9 and 10, and I'll help you through."  
            Lily looked confused but nodded.  Jessica waved bye to the Evans's.  As soon as they were gone, Jessica tugged her totes along and went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.  She got an ice and then looked around for the familiar face of her godmother.

            And then it hit her.  It was so hard, she almost dropped her ice.  It wasn't a physical object but rather a feeling, an icy feeling so cold that Jessica thought that someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her shirt.  Her eyes knew which direction to look.  The source's eyes caught her's and held, their power almost irresistible.  He started towards her, and Jessica wanted to move, but couldn't.  Why was _he here?  What did _he_ want from her now?  Most of all, she thought as she remembered seeing his face in the Leaky Cauldron, why was he following her?  _

It wasn't until the man stopped that the spell stopped.  The man's own eyes had latched onto something somewhere in front of Jessica.  She turned to it and smiled in relief as she spotted the red head.  The red head spotted her and smiled.  Jessica's look took a minute to register with the woman.  When she realized something was amiss, Molly Weasely rushed forward in the guise of excitement of seeing her goddaughter, not a far fetched act.

            She grabbed Jessica tightly, who returned the force with equal if not greater intensity.  "Is it your godfather?"  She whispered in Jessica's ear.

            Jessica nodded.

            "Is he here?"  
            Jessica nodded again.

            Molly pulled back but didn't let go of Jessica or break eye contact with her.  "Then let's get you out of here, sweetie."

            Jessica smiled her agreement.

*          *          *

            "I still do not agree with allowing Jessica Ziners to attend," Minerva McGonagall tried again.  Her, Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Gary Rum, and Professor Stephen Medley were sitting in the teacher's lounge; McGonagall, Rum, and Medley were going over lesson plans while Dumbledore attended to headmaster paperwork.

            "You know," Medley said under his breath, "the more times you say it, the more likely she is to disappear from the list of students."  He threw a glance and smirk up to Minerva, who scowled at him.  Medley went back to his lesson plans, the smirk still there.  Stephen Medley was a young and rather good looking man.  An Auror a number of years before coming to Hogwarts as a teacher 2 years ago, Stephen had humor and charm draped over him in thick layers.  There was a serious side to him most non-Aurors rarely saw, and this serious streak of his to fight against all evil kept him continuing to help the Aurors in any way he could.

            "We need to let her attend," Gary said, not even looking up from his work.  The Potions Master was an older fellow who had been teaching many years and had been head of Slytherin House for almost as many.  Though his age and stature didn't make him appear so, he was a force to be reckoned with.  

            Before Gary could elaborate on his statement, Albus came to his own defense.  "Minerva, she has done nothing wrong.  Why should we punish her for the sins of her forefathers?"

            Minerva didn't have an answer for that one.

            "Plus, she may know the identity of this Voldemort character," Stephen pointed out.

            Gary finally looked somewhere other than his lesson plan.  His light blue eyes peered over the top of his glasses at Stephen.  "Every Slytherin coming this year knows the identity of Voldemort, but _it is only through Ms. Ziners that we have hope to learn it.  And, if I do not overestimate the girl, I believe that by the time she'll tell us, she'll know a lot more than just his real identity."_

            Gary's eyes went back to his lesson plan.

            "And the great Gary Rum has spoken," Stephen replied.

            "Don't be a smart ass, Medley.  It was never very becoming of you."

            There was silence a long moment before something seemed to dawn on Stephen's face.  "You said that we _needed_ her to attend."

            Gary nodded but didn't offer anything.

            Stephen, having been here long enough and having attended the school himself, knew that he wouldn't get anything out of Gary unless he was willing to give it, so he decided to speak on another matter instead.  "I see that Severus Snape is being _allowed to attend."_

            "That's if his mother allows him to even show up on the first day and subsequent years," Gary commented.

            "Potter's boy and Longbottom's boy are also on the list, as well as Black's son…what's his name?  Sirius?  Quite a big year for the big names."

            "And don't forget the one we all love, Malfoy," Gary said, his sarcasm so thick you could pick it up with a spoon.

            Stephen chuckled.

*          *          *

            Lily spotted Jessica quickly.  She was standing with her luggage next to a red headed man and woman.  The man had a hold of the hand of a small child and the woman carried a baby.  Lily smiled at them as her and her parents walked up.

            "Lily," Jessica said quickly, making small gestures, "This is Molly and Arthur Weasely and their two sons: Bill," she gestured toward the child, "and Charlie," she gesture toward the baby.  "Molly, Arthur, this is my friend, Lily Evans, and her parents, Tom and Mildred."

            They exchanged hellos quickly.

            "Okay, let's say our goodbyes," Jessica said.  Lily noticed that, while her mood seemed lighter than Lily had seen Jessica in a long time, her manner was quickly changing.  Jessica received a hug from each of Lily's parents while Molly gave Lily a half hug (as much as she could do with Charlie in her arms) and Arthur patted her on the shoulder.  When they exchanged adults, Lily's parents gave her hard, tearful squeezes.  Molly and Arthur squeezed Jessica in much the same way.  Jessica kissed the baby on the forehead and gave Bill a hug, who also hugged back with a smile.

            "Okay," Jessica sighed, grabbing the handle of her luggage cart and looked around.  "What we're going to do Lily is run straight into that brick column," Jessica nodded towards said column.

            "Run into it?"  Lily repeated back in confusion.

            Jessica nodded.  "Just run right into it."

            "Honey," Molly said, "it might be best if she watches you do it first."

            Jessica nodded.  "Sounds like a good idea."  She smiled at Bill before turning serious.  "Drum roll please."

            Bill giggled and grabbed his hand away from his dad to start slapping his pants in a fast rhythm.  Jessica took a deep breath before starting off full speed ahead.  To Lily's astonishment, she disappeared right into the wall.

            Molly smiled at Lily when she hesitated.  "It is a bit scary the first time, but you'll see, it'll be a piece of cake."

            Lily nodded but still didn't seem too sure of herself.  She followed her friend anyway, knowing that she could always trust her.  To Lily's utter astonishment, through that…portal was another platform, and it was busy, bustling with kids and their luggage.

            "Welcome to Platform 9 and ¾, Ms. Evans.  If you just step right this way, we can speaketh in private."

            Lily giggled as she followed Jessica to an area near the end of the boarding dock.  It was devoid of people.

            "What do we need to speaketh in private for, Ms. Ziners?"

            "I need to tell you something, and I need you to trust me on it.  You do trust me, don't you?"  

            Lily nodded, the smile off her face in response to the expression on Jessica's.

            "Then you have to trust me on this.  Unless by some slim chance we get in the same house—"

            "Why wouldn't we?"  Jessica had already explained that they were divided into houses when they first got there, and that they would be in these houses until the end of their schooling.

            This stopped Jessica and made her silent for a long minute.  She finally said in a quiet voice, "This is one of those times you're going to have to trust me."

            "Why?"

            Anger seemed to flash in Jessica's eyes, turning them to a brownish amber color before they slowly went back to their regular bluish coloring.  Jessica's eyes had always been something of a fascination for Lily.  They turned different colors, the color always depending on her mood.  The colors weren't just a lighter or darker shade or a trick of the light.  They were distinct changes.  When Lily had asked Jessica about them, Jessica would just make up some wild fairy tale about curses and protection from black wizards.  Thinking about it now, Lily wondered if some of that might be true.  

When Jessica answered, it was calmer than Jessica appeared to be.  "Because there are some things that you will never understand, Lily, things I hope you will never understand."

            Lily, hurt, remained silent.  In a kinder voice, Jessica apologized.  "Sorry, Lil, it's just that…my family, both my mother's and my father's sides, have a long magic history, and I just know where I'm going to be placed, and I highly doubt you'll be placed there too.  You're too good for it."

            "And you're not too good?"  Lily asked.

            "It's not that," Jessica shook her head.  "We've gotten off track.  As I was saying, unless we get in the same house, we can't really talk to each other.  No one is suppose to like Slytherins but Slytherins, and that is probably the house I'll get in to."  Jessica held up her hands to hinder Lily's attempt to speak.  "I know, we should try to break barriers, but this barrier is too deep to break.  One day, you may understand that, but I hope not, because it's not a pleasant understanding.  Meanwhile, I want us to have a pleasant childhood, and trying to break house barriers would make life a living hell for us."

            "So all in all, we have to _pretend we're not friends," Lily asked irritably_

            Jessica shook her head, either not noticing the tone or ignoring it.

            "We have to do more than that.  You do not know me."

            "I don't like this, Jess."

            "Neither do I.  Trust me though, when you hear the rumors about me, you'll be a little glad to not know me.  But, beyond that, if a friend comes through for me, I'll have a means for us to communicate.  I'll explain that to you through your first communication."

            "What should I be looking for?"

            Jessica smiled at her.  "Don't worry.  It'll find you."

            Jessica looked over Lily's shoulder and spotted something that made her smile.  Lily went to look at what it was but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.  "Okay, we can't sit next to each other on the train, or even in the same car.  I want you to find a seat, hopefully next to a boy with messy black hair and glasses.  Don't ask why him and don't tell him about me.  Just ask nonchalantly if you can sit with him."

            Before Lily could question further, Jessica started towards the middle of the train.  Lily boarded in the back.  She found the boy that Jess had described and asked to sit with him and his two friends.  She found out that one friend was a recent acquaintance of the other two, and his name was Remus J. Lupin.  The other friend was Sirius Black.  And the boy Jessica had described was James Potter.

*          *          *

            "It's a new year, Minerva," Stephen pronounced dramatically before the teacher went downstairs to greet the gathering first years.

            Minerva nodded but without the smile Stephen was trying to achieve out of her.  Stephen stopped and stood beside her as she gazed at the new faces.  

            Minerva finally spoke.  "If Albus is right, these kids will soon have to live out dark days under our protection."

            Stephen nodded.  After a minute, he commented, "And if Gary is right, the key to something lies within one little girl."

            "Gary's a lot of talk, Stephen," Minerva said quickly.

            Stephen barely glanced at Minerva before looking back out at the crowd again.  "I'm not a little boy anymore, Minerva.  I'm a full grown wizard with an Auror's license and a teaching position at the top magic school in the world.  I know that Gary never talks unless he has something to say," Stephen paused a moment before adding, "Unfortunately, he speaks mostly in riddles."

            Minerva didn't smile at that one either.  "Have you wondered that maybe Gary was just trying to let us allow Jessica Ziners in maybe by exaggerating the importance of her knowledge a little?"

            "I've thought about that Minerva and came up with a 'no' answer.  Rum knows something, something about this girl that none of the rest of us knows.  There is a key to something that lies within her.  The importance of having her here while this Voldemort character is gaining power is a two-fold plus, I'm guessing.  We get this key in our hands and Voldemort doesn't get it in his."

            Stephen glanced briefly at Minerva before starting towards the Dining Hall.

*          *          *

            Jessica walked up to the group.  She had stuck near the back after the train ride, which she had spent with some older Slytherins who were impressed that she was the daughter of Jeffery Ziners.  Right now, Jessica stood near the back, another boy a few feet away, also lingering near the back.  When Jessica spent a long moment staring at him, he quickly looked at her.  At the first glance, something clicked within Jessica, something that also clicked in the boy.  _It's him, she thought.  They were all here.  The circle was here, here for the taking…_

            She didn't like this one bit.

*          *          *

            A few feet away, Severus Snape also didn't like the feeling.  He didn't like it one bit.  He didn't like eHeihjfthis feeling in his stomach at all.  It wasn't an all-together bad feeling though.  It was sort of a pleasant tingling, a nice sensation filling him.  And it happened every time he looked at that girl.  Severus inspected her out of the corner of his eye.  She was small, with long, nice looking light brown hair surrounding a roundish face.  He noticed she kept stealing glances at him also.

            McGonagall's voice caught his attention.  After they entered the Great Hall, he listened intently as the teacher called off the names so the Sorting Hat could dictate their life for the next 7 years.  He needed to remember which houses the important people's children got into; his mother expected a full report.

            "Black, Sirius," caught his undivided attention.  His father was Malcolm Black, one of the school governors, one with a lot of influence.  His mother was Amelia Black, an assistant to the Minister of Magic.  They were also two people the Dark Lord would very much like dead.

            _"GRYFFINDOR!!!"_

            Not surprising.  The next name that bought Severus' intense attention was:

            "Longbottom, Frank!"

            Frank was near the beginning of 7 boys.  His mother was an Unspeakable; his father had been an Auror that had already fallen victim to the Dark Lord.

            _"GRYFFINDOR!!!"_

            Again, the Sorting Hat's decision was no surprise.  It was a short while later when another name of interest came up:

            "Malfoy, Lucius!"

            His father was his only important parent.  Ignatius Malfoy was another assistant to the Minister of Magic.

            The hat barely graced Lucius's head before it shouted:

            _"SLYTHERIN!!!_

            A bit later, McGonagall shouted another name that caught Severus's attention:

            "Potter, James!"

            Now there was a person that the Dark Lord was passionate about making an orphan of.  Marcus and Brittany Potter were both Aurors who were intent on putting a stop to Lord Voldemort before he really got started.

            And here was the big shocker: _"GRYFFINDOR!!!"  Severus smiled at his own sarcastic joke.  All humor was definitely lost a few minutes later:_

            "Snape, Severus!"

            He made his way slowly through the crowd and up to the seat.  This was the moment, the moment that would make or break his school days, that would decide the rest of his childhood.  It was the moment that would decide the rest of his life.

            After all, the Dark Lord rarely accepted non-Slytherins and goodness knows that Severus couldn't get in on his own merit.

            The second the hat slid over his head, he spoke the worst possible nightmare into Severus's ear.

            'You would do great in Ravenclaw.'

            'No!!!!'  Severus screamed in his mind.  'Slytherin, please, Slytherin, I beg of you.'

            'Slytherin?  I feel that this must be important to you…indeed, very important.  You can do well in there, so if you insist…'  The hat gave him one last chance to back out.

            'Yes, I insist.'

            'Okay, Slytherin it is then.'

            _"SLYTHERIN!!!"_

            Severus slid the hat off and off the stool in relief.  He walked to the table that was cheering their new edition.  He sat down next to Lucius and across from Narcissa Black.  There were a couple of more names shouted as Severus watched intensely.  He was paying some attention to the actual names, but he was sure he caught every name of importance except one that would come near the end.  He was mainly watching now to find out the name of that girl that had been looking at him earlier and where she would end up.  To his great surprise, that girl bore the same name as the last person he was to watch for.

            "Ziners, Jessica!"

            And, to the surprise of everyone in the room, the hat seemed to begin a shout...and then stopped.  It stayed on her head for a minute.  Severus watched her mouth and noticed that she seemed to be silently mouthing words out, a slight smile on her face.  She seemed to be holding a conversation with the hat.  Finally, though, the hat yelled:

            _"SLYTHERIN!!!"_  It pronounced.  The girl rolled her eyes as she took it off, and she seemed to mutter something before heading off to her cheering housemates.

*          *          *

            "That hat started to speak," Stephen murmured to Gary, "but then quieted.  Headmaster," he leaned forward to look at Albus.  "Has it ever done that before?"

            To Stephen's surprise, Albus not only nodded, but looked curiously at Gary, who just looked straight ahead.

            "Eventually, you will have to tell us why that girl is so important, Gary," Stephen said quietly.

            "And I hope that day never comes," Gary said.  

But Gary knew it would.__

To be continued…

I want feedback!!!!!!!

And, for the bad feedback, constructive criticism is a _good thing._


	2. A Penny For Your Thoughts

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 2: A Penny For Your Thoughts**

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  You know the drill.

**Notes:**  I am trying very hard to stick with the books and such.  I do not own my own copies of the book, so right now I must give my thanks to the Harry Potter Lexicon Every Harry Potter fan fic writer needs to visit this website.

Next thing I must say is that I have played around with the time line a itty bit.  Not too much so don't worry.  (If you must know, I created this story an ancient time ago when I didn't realize that the books were taking place in the early 90s, so you must forgive me : )

In my time line, Molly and Arthur were out of school for a small number of years before having Bill Weasely (having children at an older age (like they would with Ron) is okay in my book as Jessica's parents were a little older when they had her, something you may pick up later in the story but that is not too vital).

Also, you must realize that in my story, Harry's time takes place a little further down the line (about 3 years).  That means that James and Lily were out of school for 4 years at least before they had Harry.  All that's vital later in the story.  I'll try to remember to tell you again then.

I have some major things coming up, so don't expect chapter 3 until near the end of November or very beginning of December.  Never fear!  I am going to see this through to the very end!

Lastly, thanks to Tanya for taking up being my beta reader.

Okay, have your fun:

            "The Slytherin Common Room is down this way," Jeff Rin announced as his counterpart and the First Year Slytherins followed.  Jeff was a tall, skinny 15-year old with a nearly balding head.  He was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, with the position of Beater.  His twin sister Julie also attended Hogwarts and was a Prefect as well, and, to the amusement of many, was also a Quidditch Captain and Beater but for Slytherin's great rival, Gryffindor.  Their father Adam Rin, the Minster of Magic, said at home they get along famously…until someone mentions Quidditch.  Their opposing house placements never seemed to cause them problems either.  Jeff and Julie never really interacted at school except when it came to all things Quidditch.  And Jeff didn't need to protect her from the Slytherins who picked on her either.  He _dared_ them to pick on his sister.  They would always end of up going to Madam Promphey's, whimpering, tail between their legs (and the tail was sometimes actually there).

            The female Slytherin Prefect wouldn't have been Jessica's first choice.  As a matter of fact, it would have been one below her last choice.  It was her cousin, Maria Ziners.  The daughter of the American Secretary of Magic, Maria was tall for her age, voluptuously shaped, with blonde hair and puckering red lips.  All around, she looked like she stepped out of a fashion magazine.  She though was intensely jealous of Jessica's position on the Dark Lord's list of priorities.  

            "The password is 'dragon skin.'  Do not breathe this password to anyone.  Gryffindor would sell their parents for a chance to get in here and hear all our Quidditch secrets," Jeff said with a small smile.

            Some kids chuckled, some didn't, and some made some nasty remarks on the Gryffindors.

*          *          *

"Marcus, you scoundrel," Brittany giggled, hitting him on the shoulder as he kissed her neck.  Marcus Potter growled playfully.  "We're at work," she tried again, seeming to lose a little of her fight.  The couple had found a few silent moments in Marcus's personal office, and he wasn't about to waste them doing work.

            "So?"  He asked against her mouth before he took possession of it again.

            A second later, Marcus decided if there was something that acted as a cold shower such as his son walking in on Marcus making out with his wife, it was a knock on his office door.  He and Brittany jumped apart, quickly working at straightening their clothes, Britt having a little more to do than Marcus.  He smiled at that, and she smacked his shoulder again.  He went over to sit behind his desk before shouting, "Who is it?"  Britt sat at the chair across from him.  Both had trouble fighting guilty grins.

            "Ar-Arth-Arthur Weasely," came a meek, nervous voice.

            Brittany gave Marcus a confused look.  He just shrugged.  Both knew who he was, but both thought it odd that a grunt in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department would be seeking out an Auror of Marcus's status.

            "Come in!"

            The smallish, red-haired man poked his head in.  He looked between wife and husband before asking quietly, "Is this a bad time?  I could come back later."

            Marcus suppressed a chuckle.  "No, it's a fine time."  He gestured towards the empty seat next to Brittany.  "What can I do for you today, Arthur?"

            Arthur took a tentative step towards the seat, wringing his hands, stopping, wringing his hands again, and finally coming forward to sit.  

            "Um…uh, Sir—"

            "Marcus, please."

            Arthur nodded before hesitantly starting again.  "Marcus," he seemed a little more at ease…not much, but enough to start talking without stalling every two seconds.  "I believe that you, uh, know Jessica Ziners…um…Daniel Montgomery's niece?"

            Marcus nodded.

            "My wife, Molly, is her Godmother.  Well…We're really worried about her, and we were, uh, wondering if you could…help."

            Marcus and Brittany exchanged a look before Marcus asked, "Perhaps, you could explain your worry…what it might be about."

            Arthur looked down a long time before he spoke again, but he didn't look Marcus in the eye right away.  "Jessica spent the week before Hogwarts started with my wife and me and our two sons.  We had suspected something before, but it was…pretty much confirmed for us during that week."

            "What was confirmed?"  Though Marcus was starting to feel that he may already know…

            Arthur looked Marcus in the eyes at the tone of voice but looked away when he spoke again.  "Well, it really was…unintentional.  Molly walked in on Jessica…in the bathroom.  Jessica had her shirt up…and was working on spreading an ointment over her back…There were fresh wounds across her back."

            "What did they look like they were from?"

            "Molly said it looked like her skin had cracked apart…she said it sort of looked like a spider web of bloody lines."

            Marcus and Brittany's eyes flew to each other.  Marcus had to force himself to continue with Arthur.  "Did Molly question her about them?"

            Arthur nodded.  "Jessica took a minute to respond to Molly…but ended up telling a story about the others kids in the States…they were goofing around and poking each other with the…br…"  Arthur looked up in the air as he tried to remember the word, "…brand…branding iron at the ranch.  They never actually touched each other with it until Jessica tripped and fell with her back on it and had trouble getting off…She asked Molly not to tell her dad because he didn't know, and she didn't want to get in trouble for goofing around with such a dangerous object."

            When Arthur fell silent, Marcus asked, "But you didn't buy the story?"  
            Arthur shook his head, but he seemed hesitant to continue.

            "What do you think really happened?"

            "I think…I think her father...is…hurting her."  Arthur misinterpreted Marcus's look in another direction.  "I hesitate to make such a strong allegation," Arthur went on quickly.  "And I wouldn't otherwise but I feel Jessica and her brother may be in danger.  Her brother is probably in immediate danger."

            Marcus nodded but still did not look at Arthur.

            "Jessica is very daring and seemingly fearless…which you probably already know…but I can tell you…she is not that way around her father."  Arthur took a deep breath and then spoke quietly.  "The only other person that seems to scare her more than her father is her Godfather."

            Marcus finally made eye contact with Arthur.  After a minute of unintentional awkward silence for the man, Marcus nodded.  "Thanks for your input, Arthur."

            Arthur stood slowly, his movements nervous.  "I'm sorry, Sir.  I don't m…I don't m-m-mean to cause trouble, and I wouldn't either, but I'm really worried about Jessica and Casey."

            Marcus nodded and looked Arthur square in the eye.  "So am I, Arthur.  I don't want you or Molly talking about this to anyone.  I'll do what I can, but I won't promise how much that will be."

            "If Jessica and Casey end up needing a place to stay away from the States, Molly's and my house are always open to them."

            Marcus decided to put Arthur's mind at ease a little by telling him that he believed him.  "Arthur, if I were to have my way, Casey would be at your house tonight."

            Arthur's face relaxed a little.  "Th-th-thank you, Sir.  Thank you very much."

            As soon as the door was securely shut behind Arthur, Brittany spoke.  "When someone gets spider webbing from an injury, it's from a Crucio, Marcus."

            He didn't respond.

            "Marcus, you don't think…I know Jeffery Ziners doesn't have the most pleasant personality in the world…but he wouldn't do…Marcus?  A Crucio to his own daughter.  No one is that cold hearted."

            Marcus looked up at Brittany.  "You've been an Auror too long to put anything past anybody."

            "Don't tell me you seriously think…"

            "You see Jessica Ziners when she's over here.  You don't see her in the States and most of all, you rarely see her around her father.  Arthur's right.  She's actually timid.  Can you even imagine Jessica Ziners timid?"

            Brittany took a minute but ended up shaking her head.

            "I can say I seriously think he's right because it's not the first time the thought of Jeffery Ziners abusing his daughter has passed through my head.  I am going to act on Arthur's story even if the only thing I end up being able to do is just talk to people."

            Brittany nodded.  "Well, I seriously hope you're wrong.  But I can tell you one thing."

            "And what's that?"  Marcus asked.

            "If you're not and I get my hands on Jeffery, I'll tear him to pieces."

            Despite the grim situation, Marcus laughed, not doubting his wife for one minute.

*          *          *

            Jessica smiled at her incoming package.  It was breakfast, and everyone was receiving their first mail of the school year, but a lot of eyes were on her large barn owl and her even larger package.  Every eye was curious except for Jessica.  She knew exactly what it would contain.  As soon as it landed, she gave Milo a treat but didn't watch the bird leave as she took one last bite of her breakfast and hurried off to the Slytherin House with the package in tow.

            Even though she was alone in the Slytherin Common Room, she ran up to the girl's dormitory and into the first year's room practically losing the package as she hopped on her bed.  She tore at the light, breathable wrapping.  She was glad that he had covered it well while allowing it to breath.  She didn't want everyone to really connect the item with her quite yet.

            Jessica smiled at the large, cranky, ginger cat as it hissed at her before she set the cage down to find the note that she knew he would attach.

            _Jessica-_

_                        His name is Crookshanks.  He should suit your purposes just fine.  Just show him a "piece" of the recipient, and he'll find them.  It only works with the one person and yourself.  You know the rest._

_                        I hope your school year started off fine.  Remember that if you have any problems, I'm here._

_                                                                                                Marcus Potter_

            Jessica had sent an owl to Marcus while she had been at the Weasely's.  It was there that Jessica had thought of the perfect solution to the problem of her and Lily being friends and in being in different houses.  Jessica had been even more worried when Lily had made it into Gryffindor House.  There was no way they could even _accidentally_ talk without it being mean in nature.  She was very glad Marcus came through on her request for a Magical Messenger.  They were very rare and very expensive.  She hadn't been sure that even if Marcus could get his hands on one that he would get it for her.  She paid him of course, but Marcus would have been very curious about its use.  He seemed to be okay with the request and though his compliance worried her some, she decided she was just eternally grateful he had come through for her.

            Jessica went to grab the needed items to start her secret communication with her best friend.  

*          *          *

            "First class, Potions."

            "With the Slytherins," Sirius Black said on a cringe.

            "Are they bad?"

            James and Sirius both nodded at their shy, brown-haired housemate and new friend.  

"There's a feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin," Frank Longbottom explained.  He was another brown-haired housemate but was much more boisterous than Remus.

            "All the Slytherins and their parents are really into the dark arts," Sirius furthered explained.  "I mean, _really_ into it and not in defending it."

            "Who's teaching Potions?"  Frank asked.

            James looked at the schedule again.  "Professor Rum. Never heard of him."  He looked questioningly at Frank and Sirius, whose parents were as involved in the major magic community as his were.  Both shook their heads.

            As they walked into the classroom, they found their fifth house member being dangled upside down in midair by a spell initiated by none other than Lucius Malfoy.

            "Let him down, Malfoy," James warned.

            "Make me," Lucius gave him an evil grin.

            But a quiet, commanding voice came from the doorway, cutting off any answer James might have had.  "Don't temp me, Mr. Malfoy."

It was Stephen Medley, a friend of his father's, James noticed.  A man pushed him aside however, which caused Malfoy to quickly lower Peter Pettigrew.  The man was aging and a little on the heavier side, but James had a feeling he wasn't one to be messed with easily.  As he walked to the front of the room, he asked, his back turned to Stephen, "Did you need something, Professor Medley?"

            If Stephen was insulted by the dismissive tone, it didn't show.  "Nothing that cannot be handled after class."  With that, he left.

            Roll call quickly came.  After each name, Professor Rum looked up and into the eyes of each of the students.  James knew that he wasn't the only unnerved by that.  When roll call was finished, Professor Rum didn't even smile at the class as he looked it over.  "In case some of the less intelligent have forgotten already, this is Potions.  I am Professor Rum, and I will be your teacher, at the very minimum, for the next five years.  I don't expect them to be pleasant ones, and you shouldn't either.

            "Many of you will not take Potions seriously, and that will be your first mistake.  We will not be performing any fancy wand waving in here.  That includes you, Mr. Black."  Rum's eyes latched onto Sirius's.  Sirius's wand dropped from his hand grip under the table to the floor.  So did Sirius's jaw.  "Five points from Gryffindor," Rum said before moving on as though nothing had just happened.  "Potions are a much more deadly sport, for everyone notices a wand but no one ever suspects an innocent looking liquid."

*          *          *

            "Now here is a course I might be at least HALFWAY interested in," Jessica commented on her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

            "Who cares about DADA?  We get the major points in Potions," Narcissa said.

            "Think about this, Narcissa," Jessica said quietly but loud enough for the whole group of girls to hear as they made their way to the DADA classroom.  "We get to learn about how the other side defends itself against us.  That would greatly please…_him_."  The girls were confused a second before they realized exactly who Jessica was talking about.  They all nodded greedily, eager to find any way to please their Dark Lord.

            Jessica inwardly rolled her eyes.

            When they entered the room, the girls found that they had arrived well before the boys.  Although Jessica had seen the DADA professor, Stephen Medley, a few times on prior visits here, she hadn't ever personally interacted with him.  From a reconnaissance her father had paid to be done on a lot of the better Aurors, she had learned that Stephen Medley had attended Hogwarts sometime after her father (she thought that maybe it was a year or two after the Weaselys had started attending), that he had received his Auror's license with the highest of markings on his final exam, that he had been an Auror for a few years before answering Headmaster Michaels plea for a DADA professor with, at the very least, _some_ experience, and, lastly, that though he might have become a teacher, he hadn't stopped working as an Auror totally.  In short, he was unmarried, childless, and was annoying to the Dark Lord, with an official title of "thorn in side."  Chances of him knowing her and already having a preconceived notion?  Highly likely.

            And the idea of what that preconceived notion might be was confirmed when he threw her a suspicious glance.  She dismissed it by adding it to the list of other suspicious looks she had received since childbirth.

            Medley went through roll call and through his praise of the subject before explaining DADA.  Jessica figured that if she were some other kid with some other father, Medley might be kind of cool.

            But she wasn't.

*          *          *

            James glanced at Lily Evans at she did her homework with a small curly haired girl.  So this was the Muggle friend that Jessica had talked about.  He had known since as long as he had known Jessica, that she had had a Muggle born friend from the Muggle world who knew nothing about Jessica's magical powers until, what?  A week ago?  What a weird coincidence.  Anyhow, Jessica had asked him a favor, and he would do his best to perform it, not that keeping an eye on her would be a hard task.

            When a cat followed Frank Longbottom in and then ran up to Lily did he get a little alerted.  It was not that he thought her in any danger; it was just that he thought he recognized the cat…

            Lily nearly jumped out of her skin when a cat jumped in her lap.  It was a fat, yellow cat that purred furiously as it rubbed against her.  

            "Neat.  Is she yours?"  Alice Bolmond asked.

            Lily started to shake her head but stopped when her hand touched something other than fur.  A note suddenly appeared on the cat's side closest to her.  It was in an envelope addressed to her.

            "Uh…yeah, I guess so."  Lily looked at her homework then back at the note then at Alice.  "Can you watch my stuff for a minute?  I'll be right back."

            "Sure," she smiled.

            Upstairs, Lily slowly and neatly opened the envelope, trying to figure it out in her head.  Was this how they usually did it in the magic world?  She didn't know.

            The letter ended up being from Jessica.

            _Dear Lily,_

_                        This is Crookshanks, a Magical Messenger. He will be our link to each other.  You just write a letter to me, put it in an envelope, press it to Crookshanks side (it doesn't matter which side), tap your wand on it and say, "Hidea-Mora."  The spell does two things: hides the letter from everyone but me (until I pull the letter off of Crookshanks) and it signals Crookshanks that it's time to come back to me.  This will only work between me and you unless I cleanse the cat.  I, as the owner, am the only one with that power.  _

_            You cannot tell a soul about this cat except to claim it as yours.  I will claim it as mine.  If it is found that we both own identical looking cats, we will claim that as well, that they are identical looking but not one and the same._

_            Now, how was your first day at school?  Mine was as good as could be expected._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Jess_

*          *          *

            Jessica was on her way to the library after supper in a relatively quiet hallway when she heard a loud crash.  She turned and saw the boy from the other day bending over to clean up the things that had fallen out of his bag.  She walked over to help him.  He had most of the books picked up but was looking despondently over at a spilled inkbottle.  Jessica made short work of that with a flick of her wand.  This finally caused Severus Snape to look up at her.

            "Thanks," he said quietly.  When she looked him back in the eyes, he quickly stood up to break the contact.  She followed him up.  He looked her in the eyes again and was held.  That must have been when he noticed.  Her eyes were…different, to say the least.

            Wow, Severus thought.  Her eyes were beautiful.  They changed colors as he watched.  First blue then green then brown then to black, gray was next, to which blue followed, starting the cycle over again.  Severus realized then that he was staring and turned to continue his way to the library.  Unfortunately, she followed him.  Severus tried to move to the other side of the hallway—trying at least _something_ to alleviate that feeling in his stomach, which seemed to intensify after looking into her eyes for much longer than necessary.  The girl just followed.

            "I'm going to the library too.  Maybe we could study together."

            "Maybe not," Severus responded.

            She chuckled.  "Well, how about I study at the same table as you.  We don't even have to talk."

            "I'm not sure you could manage that," Severus mumbled.

            She laughed but quieted quickly.  "I've been known to accomplish greater feats.  My name is Jessica Ziners, by the way."

            Severus didn't offer his name, and he was surprised that she didn't ask.

            He was even more surprised when she did as she said she would.  They were both silent all evening, and when Severus packed up his things, she did the same, just as silent.  She remained silent all the way back to the house.

*          *          *

            The next day they had the lesson that Severus was dreading most.  Flying.  It was made even better, Severus thought sarcastically, that he had been placed next to Jessica Ziners, his self-proclaimed buddy.  What topped the cake was that James Potter and Sirius Black were across from them.

            After greeting, roll call, and their lesson on the importance and dangers of flying, they were to call their brooms to the air.

            "Stick your right hand over your broom and command, 'Up,'" Madam Hooch said as she demonstrated with her own broom.  It came up on the first try.  When it was the kids turn to practice it, Severus was about to command his broom when his voice caught as he listened to Jessica say a soft, "Up."  The broom went up so hard, it drove her hand up higher.  Jessica turned to Severus.  He looked away quickly so as not to be caught staring.

            "Up."  Nothing.  "Up."  Still nothing.  "Up!"  It looked like it heard him that time, but it still didn't obey.  Severus sighed.  "Up.  Up.  Up, up, up, up!  Urgh!"  Sirius and James, both, who were now holding their broom, gave a snicker at Severus.

            Jessica dropped her broom.  "You have to feel for the broom's power," she said quietly holding her hand over her broom as though she were actually feeling something.  She stopped suddenly.  "Up," she said a little louder this time.  The broom flew up so hard she yelped.

            "Madam Hooch," Sirius Black suddenly yelled.  "Ziners is cheating."

            "Oh, brother," Jessica muttered as Hooch walked briskly over to stand between Sirius and Jessica.

            "Why do you say this, Black?"

"Watch her call her broom up."

"Ziners," Madam Hooch said, turning her hawk like eyes on Jessica.  "Call your broom up."

"Up," Jessica said quietly.  The broom flew up, but Jessica seemed to grab it harder so it didn't bounce up as much after it hit her hand.

Hooch turned to Sirius.  "Don't waste my time, Black.  Five points from Gryffindor."

Jessica had to keep from bursting out laughing.  Ha, the snot got what he deserved.

When she turned back to Severus, he was moving his hand around, similar to what she had done when trying to teach him.  Jessica turned a little so he wouldn't know she was watching, but she made sure to keep an eye on him in her peripheral vision.  Finally, he said a quiet but strong, "Up."  It came.

Jessica smiled.

*          *          *

"What's next?"  Bertie Magal asked as the girls came in from their flying lessons.

"Transfiguration," Calista Andrews answered.

"I'll have to meet you guys at the classroom," Jessica said.

            "Where are you going?" 

            "Somewhere," Jessica murmured as she made to walk away from them.

            "But where?"  Narcissa persisted.

            Jessica gave them an incredulous look.  "If you must know," Jessica leaned in close.  They leaned close to her excitedly.  "I'm going to use to the toilet."

            They all glared at her.  She laughed and cut off from them to enter a nearby bathroom.  She entered and thought she was alone until she heard someone crying in the last stall.  Jessica crept in a bit and was just going to go to the bathroom quietly but her conscious got the better of her.

            "Hey," Jessica called softly.  "Is everything alright?"

            "Alright?"  The girl shrieked.  "Alright?!  Nothing is alright!"  Jessica gave a startled jump when a ghost flew out of the last stall.

            "Uh, sorry," Jessica replied.  "I didn't mean to upset you further."  And, in an attempt to get the ghost's mind off her problems, she said, "My name is Jessica Ziners.  What's yours?"

            "Myrtle, but why would a Ziners care?"

            "I take it you knew my dad?"

            "I went to school with a Jeffery Ziners," Myrtle said, seeming to calm a little under the unusual amount of attention she was receiving.

            "Yeah, he's my father.  You must have known my mom then too.  Madeline Montgomery."

            "Madeline?"  Myrtle seemed to perk up a bit.  "She's your mum?"

            Jessica nodded with a smile, but the pleased Myrtle didn't stick around long.

            "Madeline was always so nice to me…unusual for a Slytherin.  But those boys she hung out with, Jeffery and that Tom Riddle!  Madeline married that dreadful Jeffery?!"  Myrtle started screaming when she realized it.  She started zipping through the bathroom, turning all the faucets on before working on the toilets.  She flew out of one toilet, drenching Jessica.  She then flew at Jessica, and though Jessica knew logically that it couldn't hurt her, she started backwards.  That, and the shock of when Myrtle flew through her, caused Jessica to stumble backwards and fall onto the hard ground, knocking the wind out of her and giving her a temporary shock.

            "Get out!"  Myrtle screamed.  "Get out of my bathroom, you dreadful Ziners!"  
            Jessica angrily pushed herself off the ground.  "Fine, you ghastly old twit!"  As Jessica turned to exit the bathroom, the cost of her careless name-calling caught up with her.  She earned another drenching of water and another Myrtle through the chest, the shock causing her to stumble out of the bathroom…

            …and straight into a large stomach.

            Jessica was dazed for a second and would have fallen if it weren't for a pair of large hands grabbing her shoulders.  Jessica backed away quickly then.

            "Damn idiot of a girl," Jessica growled as she shook herself off.  She looked up into the face of Rubeus Hagrid.  "Sorry about that, Hagrid."

            "T'at's okay."  He gave her a smile.  When he looked her in the face, she noticed shock register on his own face.  "O', dear m'.  You look just like 'er."

            "My mom?"  Jessica asked.

            Hagrid nodded.

            "Thanks," she smiled.  "You went to school with her, didn't you?"

            Hagrid nodded.  "With both yer parents."

            Jessica nodded to him before looking at her clothes.  "This kind of sucks.  I have to get to class.  No time to change."

            "Miss Ziners?  You look like you just fell in a toilet."

            Jessica rolled her eyes at the headmaster as he approached.

            "Actually, the toilet seemed to fly at me," she replied before gesturing towards the bathroom.  "I had a run-in with a ghost.  Goes by the name of Myrtle."

            "Oh, yes," Dumbledore nodded.  "Attended school awhile back.  I remember her."

            "You should put up an 'out of order' sign or something.  She's a danger," Jessica said while trying to wring out her robe.

            Dumbledore nodded.  "Good idea."  He cast a spell and a sign appeared on the door.  Dumbledore then cast a glance at Jessica as she tried wringing out her hair.  "And while I'm at it…"  Another spell and she was dry.

            She gave him a brilliant smile now, any trace of annoyance at his earlier humor gone.  "Thanks, Professor."  Jessica glanced around at the emptying corridor.  "I better get to class.  Bye."

            The two smiled at her retreating form.

*          *          *

Transfiguration was the subject that Jessica had the least training in.  She could do the basic transfigurations on objects, but she, as of yet, had to learn to do it on humans.  She knew that that would not come until she had a better part of Hogwarts under her belt, so she settled into her seat next to Severus Snape to wait the next five or six years for the really interesting stuff.

When the cat pranced in, Jessica smirked.  While she herself had never really met or interacted with Professor McGonagall, she did have quite the conversations with her son, Michael.  After his own schooling at Hogwarts, he had moved to America and received his Auror's training.  He still made frequent visits to his mom, who was widowed when Michael was only five years old.

But, from her conversations with the man, she had learned about his mother, the cat.

The cat did a strange thing though on its way to the desk.  It stopped and sat next to Jessica, looking at her curiously.

Jessica, having gotten quite sick of the staring already and still upset from her earlier encounter with Myrtle, snarled.  "Get up to the desk, you old witch."  The cat didn't move.  "I know it's you, McGonagall.  Don't think I'm stupid.  Don't ever assume I'm stupid."

Severus heard everything and gave her a curious look.  Jessica motioned to the cat.  "The Transfiguration teacher can transfigure.  Imagine the rarity of that."

That got McGonagall to change back real quick.

"Ms. Ziners, 20 points from Slytherin!"

Jessica looked at her fingernails as though bored.  "Ah, who cares?  We'll gain 'em back anyway."

"Would you like me to add more?"  McGonagall warned.

"I'm already on their death list for the 20 points," Jessica gestured to her classmates.  "What would more matter?"

"Thirty more and a detention would matter.  Come see me after class."

Jessica smiled at Severus.  "Two days and detention already.  I'm just plain good."

"You're a pain in the ass," Severus murmured.

"He speaks," Jessica whispered in amazement.  He didn't even look at her.

*          *          *

Jessica waited in her seat until everyone left.  She had to wait even longer before McGonagall would even look at her.

"Ms. Ziners, I will not tolerate sarcasm, smart alec remarks, or talking back in any form in this classroom."

"Get use to it," Jessica replied.

"Get use to detention.  You just added another night."

"I'm taking a collection.  All the detentions you got for the price of one run-in."

Seeing she would not get her to respond by detentions, McGonagall said, "You will report to Professor Medley tonight for your detentions.  I can guess how much you're going like him already," McGonagall finished with a mutter as she filled out the slip.

As Jessica walked up to get the slip from her, she said, "It doesn't matter how I like him or ever would like him.  Just like you, he won't give me a chance."

Jessica turned to walk out of the room.  

"You gave up your chance with me," McGonagall said.

"No, I didn't.  I never had it to give up."

*          *          *

"She is a smart alec," McGonagall said as she stalked right into the teacher's lounge.

"Who is a smart alec?"  Stephen asked, looking up from his work.

"She just had a class with the First Year Slytherins.  Take your pick," Professor Sprout said from a table over.

Medley grinned and chuckled.

"Jessica Ziners," Gary answered the original question from his own corner of the lounge.

            "He's psychic too," Stephen replied.

            "I am, but I didn't use that particular skill just now," Gary said not once looking up or pausing from his work.  "It just took simple deduction, Mr. Medley, a skill you seem to be lacking in this building."

            "Get over your ego," Medley started to retort but stopped when Dumbledore walked in.  Medley angrily went back to his work.

            "Stop being so moody, Stephen," Gary said as he finally looked up from his work.  He looked over to McGonagall.  "Might I ask as to why Miss Ziners's ever present wit has annoyed you so, Minerva?"

            "Urgh," Minerva growled as she stomped over to a table.  "You'll hear all about it as I had to give her two nights detention.  Stephen, I gave those detentions to you."

            Stephen nodded.  "That's fine."

            Gary gave Stephen a long hard look.  Stephen felt it bore into his back until he could no longer take it.  He turned to Gary.  "What is it this time?  I'm not good enough to handle an 11-year old girl?"

            Gary shook his head.  "It's not…oh, well, never mind.  I have to go."  And, on that note, Gary gathered his things and made his exit, Stephen staring at his back curiously.

*          *          *

            Jessica was walking back from the owlery when she ran into Professor Rum.

            "Miss Ziners, a word if I might."  He didn't wait for an answer; he just moved into an empty classroom.  Jessica followed calmly.  "Sit," Gary ordered quietly, pointing at a seat before sitting across from it.  Jessica slowly sat, her curiosity building.

            "What is it, Professor?"

            "I know you don't like Professor McGonagall or Professor Medley, most of all because you have a great suspicion as to what they think of you."

            "Suspicion?  I know what they think of me.  I know I don't have your talent, but I don't need that to see the suspicion on their face.  They're waiting for one false move to point me out as the enemy, whether the move ends up being real or imagined.  They prosecuted me and pronounced me guilty even before I ever attended here."

            Gary let the girl have her say before he had his.  "You know that you cannot have either of those two as enemies.  They are good people, and you know that.  It'll take them time, but they will come around.  I'll see to that.  But I heard about your incident with McGonagall, and your subsequent punishment.  Jessica, you know the dangers of your anger.  One false move, one loss of self-control…"

            "I know—and, kaboom, everyone knows I'm something different, and that's more dangerous than it could be comforting to me."

            Gary pointed to Jessica.  "I know you know that.  I'm just not sure you remember it all the time.  You _must_.  Especially this evening with Professor Medley.  He knows something is different about you.  If anyone figures it before due time, it will be him.  You must be careful."

            But Jessica had only heard the first part.  "Yeah, about this evening with Medley.  Can't you get me out of it?  Maybe make detention with you?  You can put me through the mill a couple times over.  I know how bad you can make it.  Please?"  
            Gary shook his head.  "I've never had a kid beg for detention with me before, but, no, I can't.  Professor Medley's suspicious enough.  If I do that, that's cause enough for him to get Professor Dumbledore to question me.  I know Albus is holding back because he knows whatever it is will come out eventually."

            Gary was looking off, deep in thought, but he looked back when Jessica asked her next question.  "Are you sure Dumbledore doesn't know already?  He's already suspicious.  He's probably researched on what it could be."

            "Probably has researched, but, no, I don't think he has found you yet.  _I_ had a hard enough time finding you, and I had some place to start."

            Jessica shrugged before giving a half nod of her head.  "I suppose."  She stood up.  "Is that all?"

            Gary nodded.  "For now, yes."  Jessica nodded before turning and walking away.  When she was by the door, Gary said, "Remember to watch your temper."

            "Yeah, yeah," she nodded, not stopping a minute in her escape.

            Gary sighed.  She didn't listen to him.  He wondered again why he taught.  He hated teenagers.

*          *          *

_Dear Lily,_

_            Two days, and I've got detention.  It's from McGonagall.   She gave it to me with Medley.  Urghhhhhh!  It sucks.  Narcissa Black (a girl in my house—she's Sirius's cousin) says that I deserved it, but I told her where she can shove her opinion.  _

_I lost points too.  Everyone is kind of miffed at me.  Oh well.  _

_Bertie Magal says that we have to get going to supper.  I'll write more _

_later._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Jess_

*          *          *

            "Lily, your cat's back!"  Alice snickered as the large ginger cat sauntered in behind Frank Longbottom.

Lily smiled as she picked the cat up and brought him close to cuddle her neck.  She was careful to keep her hand on Crookshanks's back so as not to activate the note.

            Frank sat down across from the fire with a thump.

            "Where were you?"  James asked as he, Sirius, and Remus packed up their things to go to supper.  James glanced at Lily to see her bring the cat up to the girl's dormitory.

            "Talking to McGonagall.  I saw a notice on the board," he gestured lazily towards the notice board.  "They want someone to start training in as the new announcer for Quidditch.  I thought I would try it out."

            "Cool," James said.  He glanced at his friends, but then noticed Lily coming back down the stairs, nix the cat, and a big smile on her face.

            "What?"  She asked with a giggle when she noticed him staring.

            "Nothing," he shook his head.  When James looked back at his friends, they were both giving him a knowing smirk.  "Oh, shut the bloody hell up, the both of you."  He took off out of the entrance.

            "What is with him?"  Alice asked.

            Remus and Sirius both laughed but didn't say anything as they left.

            "Frank, you coming to dinner?"  Alice asked as Lily and she started towards the entrance.

            "I suppose I really should," he said, then gave a dramatic sigh as he stood up and followed the girls out.

*          *          *

            _Dear Jess,_

_                        You won't believe this boy.  He's the one you described to me, the one you told me to sit next to on the train.  James Potter, but you probably knew that already.  Anyway, he gave me a funny look today, but it wasn't bad.  It was just kind of weird._

_                        I've made a friend already.  Alice Bolmond.  She's real nice._

_                        Urghh!!  I do not like Narcissa Black.  She is so mean to everyone except Slytherins.  You should hear Sirius talk about her!  I've never heard someone talk like that before.  _

_I'm sure Professor McGonagall is really nice once you get to know her.  Just give her a chance._

                        _I'll talk to you later!_

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Lily._

*          *          *

            Marcus was waiting patiently out in the hallway.  After hearing that Minister Rin was in a mood, Marcus decided that he would give Amelia Black, one of Rin's assistants, his weekly report on this Voldemort situation.  Unfortunately Amelia was in Rin's office.  Marcus was waiting for her to come out so he could judge who might be in a worse mood and go to the other.

            "Hello, Marcus," a voice said quietly as he leaned on the wall next to the Auror and across from the Minister's office.  Marcus nodded without saying anything or looking at the man next to him.  It was Michael Snape, the Head of International Magical Cooperation.  They had an easy professional relationship and respected each other a lot.  Marcus liked him, and Michael liked Marcus.  It was good for office politics.

            "Waiting like I to see who is in the better mood?"  Michael asked quietly.

            Marcus gave a small smile.  "Yea."

            Michael chuckled.  After a minute, he spoke again.  "Your son…James is it?  He's school age now, isn't he?"

            Marcus nodded.  "Yea.  He just started his first year at Hogwarts.  Gryffindor House."

            Michael laughed softly.  "Exactly like you and your wife.  My eldest boy, Severus, just started too, though he took after Rebella.  Slytherin House."

            Suddenly, Marcus stilled.  "Longbottom's eldest just started as well.  Frank.  Gryffindor House, like the dad."

            Marcus's tone was curiously light and casual, but anyone watching closely would notice the tensing of the two men.  Michael, by far the taller one, hid it better than Marcus.  

"Ziners is there too," Marcus added quietly.

            Before much further could be said Amelia peeled out of the office, followed by a more calm, slithering Ignatius Malfoy.  Amelia, storming off in rage, nearly slammed the door in Malfoy's face.  He caught it easily.  "Now, Amelia," he said in silky tones.  "You shouldn't show such a temper."

            Amelia spun on him.  The sight was somewhat funny; the blonde haired witch nearly a foot shorter than the Malfoy his son would look exactly alike when he grew older.

            "You slimy piece of…urgh!"  She said poking him in the chest.  "One of these you will get yours!  I will make sure to sit front row to watch it!"  She spun around again and started to storm off as, laughing, Ignatius turned to his own office next door.  Amelia almost stormed past Marcus and Michael but stopped.  Without facing them, she said, "Come to my office."

            They both followed her.  Michael hesitated a minute outside the door and looked about to allow Marcus to attend his business first, but Marcus motioned him inside.  "You might as well get wind of this now because you may later at a worse time."

            Michael nodded and went in, shutting the door behind him.

            Amelia sat down at her desk, slowly exhaling a long breath.  "Is this about your Voldemort case?"  She asked after a minute.

            Marcus nodded.  "Yea."  He looked at Michael.  "This doesn't leave the room, okay?"

            Michael nodded.  "Doesn't leave the room," he agreed.

            "I have reason to believe that this Voldemort character has been slinking around in America, gaining some more troops.  I sent my top guy there.  Presently, he's following a lead.  I'll inform you of what he gets."  Marcus turned to Michael again.  "I don't believe this is going to cause much of a problem in the way internationally; I'm on pretty good terms with their Magical Law Enforcement over there.  But I thought I'd warn you."

            Michael nodded.  "Thanks.  Who's the guy over there, if I may ask?  It might be important for me to know."

            Knowing he could trust Michael, Marcus answered.  "Tom Riddle.  He's a little annoying but a damn fine Auror.  Very powerful."

            Amelia was rubbing her eyes tiredly as the men conversed, but at the mention of Tom, she shuddered.  "That man gives me the creeps."

            Marcus nodded.  "I know.  He gives me the creeps also, but it makes it easier for him to go undercover in the places he goes.  He blends in real well with Voldemort's kind."

            "How dangerous do you deem Voldemort to be anyway?"  Amelia asked.  "He hasn't killed anyone."

            Marcus held a hand up.  "He hasn't killed anyone that we know of."

            "So we're spending all your time on this one man?"  Amelia asked, seeming to become her usual, loud, commanding self.  "Marcus, if its praise you want, you've got it and not only from my corner.  I've heard Minister Rin mention more than once that you're one of our best Aurors, maybe thee best.  I don't want _you_ of all people, spending all your time on a man that _may or may not_ have committed a murder.  Granted, finding him _is_ important, but we could put another Auror on the case, not someone that could be going up for Crouch's position."

            Marcus would normally quietly defend his unpopular opinion, but sometimes it just got to him.  His next words were spoken vehemently.  "I don't want to be Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia.  I like the field too much.  Anyway, that is not why I'm going after this guy.  He may have committed one or two murders by now, but that's not where it will end.  I just know, deep down in my bones, that it may get much worse…it _will_ get much worse if I don't stop it."

            A silence ensued.  After nearly a minute, Michael spoke up.  "Are you just going after Voldemort then?"

            Marcus looked at him for a minute, as though startled he was still in the room.  After a second, Marcus shook his head.  "I know he's got more than himself doing his dirty work.  _I want_ _everyone_."

            "Do you have any prospects?"

            Instead of answering, Marcus gave the tall, imposing figure a curious glance.  "You aren't actually one of my enemies, thinking I'm chasing after nothing all that important, a man that is not a problem for _me of all people_, surprised that I am wasting such time and making it the sole focus of my work?"  
            Michael gave a slight shake of his head.  "I think _you_ know what you're doing."  And in Michael's eyes, Marcus saw a glint of an earlier conversation, an explanation of Michael's feelings or maybe a confirmation.  "Do you have any prospects?"  He asked again.

            Marcus nodded.  "A number, actually."

            "Any here?"

            "In England?"  Marcus asked incredulously.

            "In the Ministry."

            Marcus gave him a surprised look.  "Exactly how long have you been thinking about this Voldemort problem, Michael?"  
            "Long enough to wonder about some people," he answered simply.

            Marcus seemed to absorb that thought before asking, "Who are _your_ prospects?"  
            The answer was quiet.  "Ignatius."

            Marcus glanced at Amelia.  She was staring at Michael in amazement.

            "I thought you two were friends," Amelia said.

            "Presently so.  Doesn't mean I don't see him for who he is.  Lately I've been beginning to wonder if I know who he _really_ is."  All this was said while Michael looked at Marcus, his arms crossed.

            Finally, Marcus answered the unspoken question he felt from Michael.  "Yes, Ignatius is on my list of suspects.  He's at the top of that list as a matter of fact.  I've got very little evidence of him, but it's more than I've got on most of the list.

            "But that stays between the three of us.  Not even Tom knows of my suspicions of Ignatius."

            Amelia and Michael nodded.

*          *          *

            "Stop humming."

            Stephen was amazed when she actually stopped.  She continued putting his instruments in alphabetical order in his office with a compliant attitude.  Stephen wondered if she was doing this calmly just to unnerve him.

            Suddenly a curious thought struck him, and he quickly decided to voice it, "Jessica, have you seen any of these instruments before?"

            She nodded.  "So far I haven't run across one I haven't seen."

            "Why do you know them?"

            "My uncle and Riley Haderson.  Mainly Riley though.  Casey…he's my brother…Casey and I hang out in the Training Barns a lot.  The Training Barns are the training and workout facilities for the American Aurors."

            "How old is Casey?"

            "Ten.  Here's small for ten, and that worries me.  He'll be—probably be in Slytherin, and you can imagine how that will turn out.  He's kind of clumsy too."

            Clumsy…it rolled around in Stephen's head for awhile.  She's was worried for her small, clumsy brother.  Hm.  "He'll grow out of it eventually."

            "Probably not.  My grandma—my mother's mom (she died a bit ago)—said that she thought Daniel stole all the height in the family, and that both Casey and I are doomed to be short for the rest of our lives."

            Stephen laughed.  This caused Jessica to turn to him.  "Hey, I believe it.  The Montegomerys reek of magical power.  I believe something like that could happen to us.

            "The thing with Casey though is he won't let them pick on him.  He's learning a lot of spells before he comes here so he can defend himself."

            Stephen nodded.  "But he has to be careful."

            "He's always careful.  The cautious one of the family.  He has to be, with his clumsiness and all."

            "Being clumsy, you can't be careful," Stephen said.

            "Now you sound like my father.  Anyhow, I think I got this alphabet thing done and everything is polished.  May I go now?"  Stephen nodded and went to get up to see her to the door.  Halfway there, Stephen tripped over a loose shoelace and then over his trunk.  "Now, I'm the one who's being clumsy," he murmured with a self-depreciating grin.  He saw Jessica grin that frown at something behind him.  He turned to see a dementor.

            "Expecto Patronum!!!!"  She shouted with such fierce intensity that for a split second Stephen wondered about that voice coming out of a simple 11-year old girl.  In the next millisecond, he wondered about his sanity as he saw a corporeal patronus in the form of a Tiger come out of her extended wand.  He turned to defend himself against the dementor when he saw it change to a Bogart.  Jessica immediately shouted, "Riddikulus!!"  The Bogart changed into…wait he should recognize that person…but then the person quickly changed Lucius Malfoy singing and dancing about like a girl.  Jessica giggled, confirming that this was indeed a little girl casting these spells.  

When the Bogart was taken care of, Stephen turned to look at the girl.  The smile fell off her face before she looked at him a long minute in utter horror.  When she moved it was to take off running like the hounds of Hell were right on her tail.

*          *          *

            Gary was just about to turn in for the night when there was a series of desperate knocks on his office door.  He halted when they stopped and was not going to answer, but they started again, nearly loud enough to wake the Slytherins down the hall.

            "I'm coming," Gary growled and went to the door with a candle.  It was Jessica Ziners, and she was shaking something fierce.

            She burst into his office.  Gary shut the door behind her as the words rushed from her lips.  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to do it, I really didn't.  But it was there, and I just did the first thing I knew!  But then it turned to a Bogart, and I realize I'm an idiot to think a dementor would be in _here_, but I wasn't thinking again because I got rid of the Bogart.  I'm sorry, Professor.  I was real good until he tripped, and _there it was_!"

            Gary had set down the candle on his desk.  When she finished, he gripped both of her shoulders to guide her to the seat across from his desk.  She sat down, but he didn't think she even realized she was in his office right now.  When he knelt beside her and looked her in the eyes, he realized there were tears in them, tears and utter panic.

            "First thing you do is calm down," he said soothingly.

            She bit her lip and nodded.  Gary sucked in a quick breath.  In that exact instant, she looked every bit her 11 years and not the adult that her mind seemed to function as.  All these years with this power and the training to control it…And Gary had long suspected that there a training of another sort going on, one her father and possibly Voldemort initiated.  He had suspected it upon her father's visits to him.  While her father would go to London after his visits with Gary, Jeffery would leave her here for a bit.  She would watch almost constantly over Gary's shoulder.  He would teach her some things, but her knowledge on everything magical always surprised and astounded him.  But, right now, none of that was in the quivering of her lip or the wet brimming her eyelashes.  There was panic there.  And fear.

            "Okay, what happened?  I'm assuming you just finished your detention with Medley."

            She nodded and swallowed before trying to start over but slower this time.  "I had just finished, and Medley was seeing me to the door when he tripped over his trunk, and it knocked the trunk open.  Then I see this dementor coming out of it.  I had just been thinking about something scary Uncle Danny had told me about a dementor, and I guess that's what made it come out."

            "But you digress," Gary urged.

            She bit her lip and nodded.  It took her a second to continue, but she went on, "But I see this dementor.  I get scared, but I shout what I was told to—"  Suddenly, her eyes widened, but she was quick to hide it.  "I mean, I shout what I read in a book, Expecto Patronum."  When she paused again, Gary nodded to urge her to continue.  "Well, the dementor turns into a Bogart."  Gary did take note that she glossed over whether or not her patronus actually formed.  By her advertence to the subject, he guessed that it had indeed appeared.  "I shout to get rid of the Bogart.  (Uncle Danny had taught me and Casey that one.)  I handled the Bogart."

            "And then you remember that Stephen is there on the floor," Gary concluded when she stopped.  Jessica bit her lip and nodded again.

            Gary nodded with a sigh and stood up.  "Why don't you go to bed?  I'll take care of this, but I will do so in the morning.  He won't do anything either about it until everyone's had a good sleep."

            Jessica looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears which were quickly cleared up by some quick blinking.  She wiped the streaks off her face with the sleeves of her robe before scrutinizing him again.  Her eyes were a chaotic gray, which Gary assumed to be the color that her body had chosen to express worry or fear.

            "Okay, if you think so," she finally said.  Worry, Gary decided.

            She got up and gave him a weak smile.  "Have a good night sleep, Professor.  See yea in the mornin'."  Gary smiled as her southern accent broke through.  She grinned a little easier but didn't say anything more as she turned to leave.

            "You as well, Miss Ziners," he said.  She waved at him before disappearing into the dark dungeon hallway.

            Gary went to bed not particularly looking forward to breakfast in the morning.

            But, then again, he never did.

*          *          *

            Stephen did not even so much as look at Gary during breakfast.  The old crony was acting so nonchalant, but Stephen knew that he knew what had occurred last night.  He was sure Jessica probably went and "reported" to him.  The damn man knew so much already!!

            It wasn't until they were walking out of the Great Hall that Stephen said something.  "You know I'm going to have to report to Dumbledore that one of the students may be a danger to others."

            Gary stopped but didn't look at Stephen right away.  Both men stepped aside to allow others to pass by.  Both teachers noticed that Dumbledore remained at the Head Table.  He looked to be finishing breakfast still but both men knew he wanted to be on hand in case the situation warranted his presence, since it was common knowledge neither Stephen nor Gary got along very well.

            After another long moment of silence, Stephen asked, "What?  No denial of any danger Ziners might propose?"

            Gary shook his head.  "But, if you think about it, Severus Snape or Lucius Malfoy are both of equal or greater danger.  So is James Potter, Sirius Black, or Frank Longbottom."  As Gary finished off, he looked Stephen in the eye.

            "An 11-year old child knowing a patronus?"  Stephen hissed.  "Gary, that's not simple danger."

            "But if she were not here, where would she be?"  Gary hissed loudly.  The implication hit the young Auror easily.  The Potions Master quieted when he said his next words, "I will handle the girl.  But, listen carefully to me, Stephen.  She is a Pandora's box you do NOT want to open."

            Stephen, arms crossed, did not give any sort of acknowledgement to Gary's warning.  "Why couldn't you tell us about her in the beginning?"

            "The likelihood of her getting accepted here at Hogwarts would have been?  Hmmm?"  Stephen nodded sullenly.  

            "So you don't want me to say anything to Dumbledore?"

            "I would be most appreciative if you didn't," Gary murmured.

            "I don't like this."  
            "I know you don't."

            Stephen looked down for a long time as he thought about it.  Finally, he looked at Gary.  "One toe out of line…and I'm not talking detention.  I'm talking one move that makes me think she's uncontrollable, and I go see Dumbledore."

            Gary nodded.  "Fair enough."

            Stephen walked past Gary and out of the Great Hall.  The Potions Master stayed put.

            "Gary?"  
            Gary looked over at Dumbledore.  "Yes, Albus?"

            "Is something wrong?"  
            Gary gave him a sardonic smirk.  "I see no way in answering that without digging myself in a hole with you, so I'm just not going to answer it."

            Albus chuckled.

            "Was the secrecy due to Ms. Ziners?"  The headmaster asked next.

            Gary scratched his forehead as he walked up to Albus and avoided the headmaster's gaze.  "You could probably safely assume any time that boy and I talk for any length of time it will be about that girl."  Gary looked over at a chair at the edge of the teacher's table and held out his wand.  "Accio chair."  It came over to him, and he sat across from Albus.

            "You look old, Gary," Albus said.

            "Thanks," Gary nodded.  "Now that you mention it, so do you."

            Albus laughed.  "How long have we known each other?"

            Gary looked up in the air as he counted.  "Seventy or so years."

            "And we fought against Grindelwald together."

            Gary nodded.  "Yeah, those were the good days."

            "The good days?"  Albus asked curiously.

            "The days when I wasn't disabled.  The days when being a teacher was a choice for me, not the only thing I was capable of doing."

            "Is being a teacher that bad?"  Albus asked quietly.

            Gary gave a thoughtful pause.  "I just think it should be easier than being an Auror.  Instead, they're the just same job but without the killing."

            Albus laughed.  "You could say that again."

            Gary smiled at him.  "Yes, I could.  You should know after all.  Going from transfiguring pin cushions to battling and beating Allan Grindelwald in the blink of an eye."

            There was a long pause before Albus asked quietly, "Why did the Sorting Hat act as it did on Ms. Ziners head?"

            Gary looked down at his hands.  "Did you ask the Sorting Hat?"  
            Albus didn't respond.  Gary knew that Albus knew that he knew that Albus had.  Gary also knew that this was one thing that that hat would not divulge to his beloved Headmaster.  

            When Gary still did not speak, Albus said, "I also seem to remember a Welcoming Feast on a night in 1937 where I was a guest here.  The Sorting Hat did the same thing then too.  It was on the head of a small girl with the same golden brown hair as Ms. Ziners.  The girl was Madeline Montgomery I believe, later to become known as Madeline Ziners."  
            Gary nodded.  "I remember that ceremony quite well actually.  My first year teaching."

            "How does the Sorting Hat know them, Gary?"

            Gary stood up.  Before leaving, he gave Albus a grim look, "Let me quote what I'm guessing the Sorting Hat said.  It's not my place to tell you, Sir.  Good day."

*          *          *

            She didn't look him in the eye.  She didn't speak unless spoken to.  She spoke in proper grammar.  She did everything to perfection.

            Stephen realized that the poor girl was terrified.  Did Gary do this?  Did he sit Ziners down and yell at her for last night?  For some reason, Stephen didn't think so.  No, as he watched the girl scrub the floor of the DADA classroom by hand, Stephen honestly didn't think so.  The girl truly knew she did something that she shouldn't have.  

Not show magical talent?  But why?  She was hiding it.  Not very well, but she was honestly trying to hide it.  Why?

Stephen, with his forthright nature, would have asked except that one thing Gary had said to him this morning still stuck in his brain.  _She is a Pandora's Box you do NOT want to open._

But then there was the other argument.  There was an 11-year old girl sitting on the floor of the DADA classroom who was possibly stronger than him in magic.  She had no place among the other regular 11-year olds.  She was a danger.

            But then there was another of Gary's points.  If she were not here, Hogwarts could not have a chance to claim her rather than their competition: Voldemort.  Or some other dark side at least.  The fact that Gary brought this up was significant in and of itself.  That meant that there was something more to her than creating a corporeal patronus at 11; there was definitely a dangerous quality to her.  Again, Stephen thought, he was back to his original point: she was a danger.

            But…here she was, truly sorry for having lost control of keeping her talent under tight wraps.  

Yes, Stephen would wait, he thought as he went back to his office.  He would wait, and he would watch.  One toe out of line, one toe that wasn't under control, and he would go see Dumbledore.  For now, though, he would wait.  But he wouldn't stop trying to figure it all out.  And wonder.

            Because Gary wasn't merely keeping a secret like Stephen had once thought.  No, this was much bigger and deeper than a secret.

            Gary was trying to hide Jessica Ziners.

*          *          *

By the time Christmas Break came, the Slytherins were grossly ahead of House Points and Quidditch Points.  

And, Jessica couldn't forget, enemies were decided.  Jessica's own enemy was Sirius Black.  He was always trying to out do her, and, of course, she out do him.  Then, of course, there was Narcissa and Lily.  Jessica had to laugh at Lily's anger at this girl, who took delight on picking on the Gryffindor girls…all except Lily of course, who could definitely hold her own furiously.  Then, the biggest and baddest feud of them all: one James Potter versus one Lucius Malfoy.  While James had a small nice bone in him, he was one cocky bastard.  And, with Lucius, it was one cocky bastard against another.  Jessica had to laugh at herself.  She was treating this feud like it hadn't been expected.

She waited at the train station for the Hogwarts Express.  Severus was next to her.  Every since their jaunt to the library that night, to Severus's great annoyance, they had started to just "stand next to each other but not talk."  She had initiated all prior contact until today.  She had been waiting by herself when he dragged his stuff next to hers and sat on his trunk.  Neither had spoken.  He hadn't even looked at her since he sat down.  She had sure looked at him though.  He was kind of cute in a brooding sort of way.  His hair was short and dark, dark black.  Severus was also taller than most boys and had a leaner look about him.  What she liked most about him was that he wasn't talking constantly about impressing the _Dark Lord_... nor was he even talking constant.

When Jessica looked away she saw Crookshanks waddling over to her.  She looked across the platform at Lily.  She had agreed to take Crookshanks over Christmas Break.  What was she doing sending him over to her?

The cat jumped up into her lap.  Severus glanced at it before looking back at his feet.  Knowing that if Severus even actually _noticed_ that she was taking a note from the side of a cat he wouldn't even much care, Jessica brushed a side of the cat and found the letter right away.

_Have yourself a boyfriend there, Jess?_ was all that was written there.  Jessica locked eyes playfully with Lily as she burned the note with her wand.  Lily cracked up laughing but hid it quickly when she was questioned by nearby friends.

"Hidea-Ora," Jessica said near the cat's ear as she set her down.  The command sent her back to the secondary owner.  Jessica noticed that Severus glanced at her before quickly turning away.  She laughed.

*          *          *

When they disembarked at Platform 9 and ¾, Jessica noticed her uncle towering in the back of the crowd.  She knew that Danny Montgomery was probably the only human alive that could compete with Rubeus Hagrid in sheer size alone and remain a man.  She smiled and waved at him.  He gave her his large smile that always made her laugh and waved back.  He would wait for her to come to him.  His size tended to scare kids.

Jessica turned to Severus.  He was starting to cart his things off in another direction.  Jessica touched his arm, catching his immediate attention.  She bit back a smile at that.

"Ah…," Jessica suddenly became uncharacteristically nervous.  "See yeah after vacation, right?"

Severus glanced down before shrugging miserably.

Jessica paused a moment before saying, "If not, I could send that big thing over there after you.  He's my Uncle Danny."

Severus looked over and back at Jessica with an incredulous smile.  She nodded.  "Seriously, he is."

Severus glanced back at Danny, who waved at him this time.

"Is he a giant?"  Severus asked, looking back at her.

"No, just big.  I'm serious though.  If you ever need help, he can be there."

Severus nodded slightly before looking back at his feet again.

Jessica's hands went into her pocket as she went to study her feet too.  She wanted him to say bye but was now guessing he wouldn't.  Jessica's fingers touched a penny in her pocket.  She always kept a penny in her pocket.  She _always_ had a penny there because her uncle was always giving them to her.  _A penny for your thoughts_, he would say.  She pulled it out, an idea floating into her mind.

She reached out and grasped a hand hanging at his side.  It was surprisingly cold.  Jessica unfolded his long fingers and refolded them, her fingers on the inside, the penny sitting now in his palm.  She kept them that way as she spoke.

"A penny is also a piece of American money.  In America, we sometimes say, 'A penny for your thoughts?'."  Jessica let go of Severus's hand.  He looked at the copper coin sitting in his palm.  "That's a penny," she explained.  "In exchange, you're suppose to give me your thoughts."

"Thoughts on what?"

"Thoughts on leaving."

Severus looked at her as though he didn't believe that someone was actually paying him for his thoughts.  It was a long moment before he spoke again, "I don't want to go home.  I don't want to go back to Hogwarts either.  I hope that somewhere between here and home I find out what life after death is like."  To Severus's surprise, she nodded in understanding.  Before he could help himself, he pushed the penny back into her palm.  "Your turn."

"I don't want to go home either.  Hogwarts isn't so bad compared to home, but not what I want.  I hope that between here and home my father and godfather kill each other, but I've learned not to hold out hope for that anymore.  But my faith that one day my dad's stupid deeds will eventually catch up with him is the only thing preventing me from offing my brother and myself."  Jessica paused for a minute and she and Severus just looked at each other in the eyes, before Jessica pressed the penny back into his palm.  "Do you want to come back to Hogwarts…if only for my sake?"  Jessica giggled a little bit.

Severus started to respond, feeling like the boy he was instead of the adult he was forced to be, when he heard a voice, "Severus, mother wants you to hurry up."  Severus hesitated before glancing at his "perfect" little brother.  Salazar, his namesake need not be mentioned, was good looking and charming.  He left off smart because Severus sincerely doubted that trait in his brother.  To Severus's frustration, Salazar smiled over at Jessica.  He looked back at Jessica to see how she reacted to him.  She merely nodded before smiling at Severus.  

"Bye."

He nodded at her.  It wasn't until he turned to follow his brother that he noticed that the penny was still in his palm.

To be continued…


	3. A Budding Friendship

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 3: A Budding Friendship**

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  You know the drill.

I can't think of anything I need to say other than, have fun (and I LOVE feedback—let's me know people are reading it).

She hit the counter curse, and Casey was released.

"You're getting better," he said quietly.

She nodded.  "I think so too."

"Are you ever going to use it on him?"  He asked.

"If the time ever comes up."

"Use what on whom?"  The siblings turned to see Riley Haderson enter the "barn."  On the outside, to the Texan Muggles, it looked like a barn.  To the witches and wizards, it was an Auror Training House.  The particular room they were in right now was a complete contrast to the outside appearance, with its silver walls and clean cut look.  The room was empty with the exception of the maps, the mirrors, and the training weapons and almost had the guise of a Do-Jang.

Riley Haderson was one of the top Aurors in America, Jessica's Uncle Daniel Montgomery probably being the only one better.  Riley was in his early thirties, with longish darker brown hair, goatee, and intense brown eyes.  Even his glasses did not take away from his roguish appeal.  Right now, he was wearing a black wizard's robe and dark hiking boots.

"Use what on whom?"  He repeated, stopping and putting his hands behind his back to look between the two.

"A levitation spell on Jack Ronson," Jessica answered then without hesitation.

"You're lying to me."  The corner of Riley's mouth went up in a barely noticeable grin.

"Every day of my life," Jessica murmured.  Riley gave an even bigger smile.

"Seriously, what were you two doing?"

"Playing," Jessica responded with a completely serious face.

"Smart ass."  Riley turned to Casey, who was starting to smile himself.  He pointed to the boy.  "Don't take any lessons from her."

"Too late."

"Arghh," Riley growled.  Both kids giggled.  "How do you like Hogwarts?"  He asked Jessica, changing the subject.

"It's fine."  She got quiet again.

"Just fine?"

"Alright."

"Just alright?"

"I feel like I'm talking to a parrot."  Jessica glared at him.

"I just thought you'd like it better…"  Riley seemed to realize what he was going to say and thought it best to shut his mouth.

"Better than what?"  Casey asked innocently.  Jessica didn't say anything.

"Better.  Just better," Riley answered quietly.

"It's fine," Jessica finally spoke.

Riley gave her a concerned look for a long time before nodding slowly.  "Okay.  I have to go.  Danny and I are going over plans for an infiltration tomorrow night.  Silence, capeesh?"  Both kids nodded, use to having inside information and not talking about it.

When Riley left, Casey turned back to Jessica.  "What was that about?  Better than what?"

"Better than being with dad."

Casey thought about that for a long minute.  "Is it?"  He finally asked.

Jess shrugged.  "Kind of.  It's school, and my housemates leave a lot to be desired…" she smiled to herself, "One is pretty cool though, once he warms up to you."

"What's his name?"  
            Jessica looked over at Casey.  "Severus Snape.  Don't say anything though."

"Will people know him around here?"  Casey asked as they started out of the barn and back to the mansion they called home.

"The wrong people, I'm guessing."

Casey nodded.  They were silent the rest of the way home, looking at the ground as they crawled up the hillside at a slow pace.  Casey was two inches shorter than his sister, who was short herself.  He was small and skinny, with spiky brown hair and silver wire-rimmed glasses.  A boy with an inquisitive nature, he was dripping with the mannerisms that many associated with such a type of personality.  All thought they knew him, could tell you all about him with just one look, but Jessica knew there was a different side to her brother's calm, patient surface, a side that had been and would always only be released when the time was perfect for it.  No one had any idea how powerful 10-year old Casey Ziners really was, and he would just as soon keep it that way.

Jessica, on the other hand, did not get any of the Montgomery patience, calm, or self-control.  She inherited her father's anger, aggression, and demand to have things done her way or else.  The only thing that made her different from her father in personality and self-claims was that small part that she had deeply inherited from her Montgomery side, the side that dictated all of what she was.  It was a part of her that her father could not touch, a part she would not let him touch.  Though he liked to pretend otherwise, she knew that that infuriated him.

All seemed well when they entered their house until one of their house elves walked past them.  It was Malf, one of their oldest house elves and one of the very few that were more loyal to the kids than to their father.  It was probably because he served the Montgomerys long before he served the Ziners.  

Malf nodded towards the dining room.  It was near suppertime, but why would he point that out to them?  He gave them a long look, and that's when they understood.  They had a visitor.  More so, they had a visitor they would not like.

Casey and Jessica looked at each other before taking a deep breath and heading towards the dining room.  Jessica's skin crawled at the sight that greeted them.  Her Godfather's smile zeroed in on her immediately.

"So, Jessica.  Hogwarts.  How was it?"  His voice was thick and oozy.

She slowly took her place at the table.  "Nice.  Not as far advanced as I would like it."  He would enjoy those words, she knew.

Tom Riddle leaned back and steepled his fingers as the house elves brought in the food.  When they left, Riddle remained in that position, his eyes boring into Jessica.

"Slytherin, I presume."

Jessica could not find a smart retort inside herself, so she just nodded.  She could feel her dad's proud eyes on her and Riddle's intrusive ones.  They both made her feel like an experiment, rather than an 11-year old girl.  

Tom looked to the other side.  He, of course, sat at the head of the table while Jeffery Ziners sat across from his daughter.  Jeffery and Riddle had been best friends growing up, but nowadays Jeffery served as Riddle's most loyal servant and major financial backer.  Oh, and Jessica almost forget to mention, father of Riddle's supposed weapons.  Though some part of her knew that it was deeply wrong, she couldn't wait to turn those weapons on their maker.  Too bad she couldn't turn them on the idiot at the head of the table right now.

"Jeffery, I still believe that it might be better to train her privately rather than sending her to Hogwarts."

"I see your point, Tom, but imagine.  That old fogey Dumbledore will become attached to her.  He didn't kill you when he had the chance.  He will not try to kill Jessica until she becomes too dangerous and good enough to hold up against even him."

Tom smirked.  "I like the way you think."

The table went silent for a short time afterwards.  A house elf poured Casey some pumpkin juice, and he reached for his glass.  Jessica saw it a second before it happened.  His fingers were a bit too low.  Her hand was already halfway there when three of Casey's fingers knocked into the glass, and it tipped.  Jessica caught it just as one drip dropped.  After she righted it, she went back to her own pumpkin juice, and as she sipped the glass, her eyes moved to Tom's.  The smile he was giving her made her not want to know what was going on behind those eyes.

*          *          *

"So, how is Hogwarts going, Son?"  Michael Snape asked.  The Ministry worker was home for one of his brief stints.  Even so, of his two parents, Michael was Severus's favorite.  As Severus looked at his mother, he thought that that was no surprise.  She was a smallish, ugly woman, the Muggle looking version of a witch.  But it wasn't just her appearance that was ugly.  She was mean and vindictive, always looking for ways to get back at Michael for having a job other than doting on her one hundred percent of the time.  Severus had a strong suspicion this anger had started with Severus' own birth.  

Michael, on the other hand, was a tall, good-looking fellow, with long black hair and a crooked nose.  He wasn't full of charm like Marcus Potter or grace like Ignatius Malfoy, but he was hard working and smart, two qualities Severus greatly admired.

"Hogwarts is a good school.  I like it."  The last part was a lie but not a big one.

"Any friends?"

Severus shrugged and started to answer when Salazar answered for him, "He has a _girl friend."_

Michael looked humored, but that wasn't what bothered Severus.  It was his mother's _interested look._

"Who is this _female_ friend?"  Michael asked with a smile.

"Jessica Ziners," Severus answered casually, looking at his father but keeping a cautious eye on his mother.  She smiled.  _Uh oh._

"Jessica Ziners?"  Michael asked with a smile, but the smile seemed forced and a mite nervous.  Severus had a slight idea as to why his mother was smiling, but what exactly would make his father nervous?  Michael's response didn't help clear it up any more for Severus.  

"Nice girl.  I met her once about a year ago.  Pretty too."

Severus shrugged.  "She just hangs around me."

"How are your classes?"  Michael asked further, seeming to understand that Severus didn't want to talk about Jessica.

"Interesting," Severus replied quietly.

Michael nodded.  Severus watched him out of his peripheral vision and noticed Michael give him a long, unreadable look.  Severus just kept to his meticulous task of cutting his food into small bites.

*          *          *

"Marcus," Dumbledore smiled as Marcus Potter walked into the large doors of Hogwarts.

"Why is it again that we cannot Apparate within a mile of Hogwarts?  It would make things a lot easier on the brooms."

Stephen and Minerva walked in to hear Marcus's question.  Stephen smiled.  "Do not tell me a great Auror is questioning the splendid security of Hogwarts School."

Marcus laughed as the two old friends shook hands.  "No, Stephen.  _This great Auror is just merely whining.  How was another Christmas at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"_

"Wonderful, just wonderful," Stephen answered for the group, looking intently at Marcus.  "But my old Auror's sense is sensing that Minerva's and my presence are not required for this visit.  Just make sure to stop by for a small chat."

Marcus nodded and Minerva smacked a laughing Stephen's shoulder as the two professors walked away.

Marcus turned to Dumbledore then.

"And my _very old_ Auror's sense is sensing that I am the required one for this visit," Dumbledore said quietly.

Marcus gave a slow nod.  "Yes, it is, Professor.  If we could go to your office…?"

Dumbledore nodded and Marcus followed him to the small room at the top of the twirling staircase.  Once settled in there, Marcus started quietly.

"The circumstances of a certain student here have been brought to my attention.  I have been researching on my ability to do anything in this case governmental but my wife suggested a better course."

"To forget the fact you are an agent of the government and work on this case as a friend?"  Dumbledore suggested lightly.

The corner of Marcus's mouth went up a little bit.  "Exactly.  So here I am, a friend."

"Might I ask as to the identity of this student?"

Marcus nodded but took a long time to answer.  Finally when he did, his hazel eyes never left Dumbledore's old blue ones.  "Jessica Ziners."

The headmaster nodded.  "I suspected as much."

"That brings me to my point.  What are your thoughts on this matter?"

"I'm sure my thoughts are the same as those that were brought to you.  Her change in her demeanor around her father.  Do you mind if I ask what it was that brought Ms. Ziners' situation to your present attention?"

Marcus looked away.  "No, that's fine.  It was Arthur Weasely.  His wife Molly is Jessica's Godmother.  Jessica was staying at their house when Molly noticed her treating a wound on her back that looked a lot like a Crucio wound."

Albus nodded slowly.  "Do _you think it was a Crucio wound, Marcus?"  
            Marcus looked back at Dumbledore.  "Let's just say it wouldn't surprise me if it was."_

*          *          *

Christmas break was over and Jessica was waiting in the back of the crowd for the train.  Everyone left her alone, and Jessica would have rather kept it that way, but even her young mind was cynical enough already to know that that wasn't to be had.  Even though she knew that, she had no escape plan ready when Lily smiled at her and started over.  Jess put her mouth close to the Styrofoam cup and spit.  She looked at the blood to make sure no teeth came with it.  _Get distracted Lily, Jessica prayed silently, not looking at her in hopes it would discourage her, __get distracted, Jesse thought again.  She liked Lily and all but did not want her already suspicious friend to get even more suspicious as to Jessica's sometimes-mysterious wounds. _

Jessica's prayers were answered when Alice Bolmond walked up to her.  Lily stopped to greet her newer friend.  Jessica looked back at her cup, and when she looked up again, Severus was walking up to her.  He glanced at her and nodded, looking down again.  She did the same thing, thinking he didn't really care why she was holding a Styrofoam cup so close.

            But Severus did take notice and noticed a lot more than Jessica would have liked.  He glanced at her again before casually looking around.  Everyone was excitedly reuniting with friends and could care less about the two loner Slytherins.  Seeing that no one was paying them any attention, Severus laid a hand on Jessica's shoulder and guided her behind a post.  He took the hand off her shoulder and gently guided her Styrofoam cup down.  He put his other hand on her forehead and pressed her head back against the post.

            "Open wide," he instructed quietly.

            As he moved his hand away from the cup and reached for his wand, she asked, "Why?"

            "Just do it."

            She did.  He looked closely for a minute before asking, "Did you spit out any teeth yet?"  Jessica shook her head.  "Okay, good.  Just a little spell then."  He murmured one with his wand pointed at her mouth.  When he was done, she closed her mouth and felt around with her tongue.  No blood.

            "Won't you get in any trouble for using magic?"  Jessica asked quietly as he put his wand away.

            Looking anywhere but her, he shook his head.  "No.  Lucius's father cleared every Slytherin on the books at the Ministry.  If we do magic, they won't be notified."

            "Even me?"

            He nodded.  As they started back around the post, he looked at her and asked, "Mother or father?"

            She gave him a confused look.  He nodded toward her mouth.  She looked away and her voice went quiet.  "Father.  Mother died when I was seven."

            "Was it by your father?"  She looked away and didn't notice him cringe.  "Sorry.  I'm insensitive sometimes."

            "How about you?  Mother or father?"  He gave her a surprised look.  "Most eleven year olds don't learn how to heal a mouth because they're bored," she said.

            He nodded.  "True.  Mother."

            "What about Father?"  
            "Not around a lot, but don't get me wrong.  He's a good dad.  Just not around a lot."

            To his surprise, she didn't criticize.  "What's he do?"

            "He works at the Ministry.  Head of International Magical Cooperation."

            She nodded.  "Cool."

            "What's your dad do?"

            She laughed sarcastically.  "I'm surprised you haven't heard yet."

            Severus gave a small smile.  "I have; I just thought it would be polite to ask."

            She snickered.  "Business man in both the Muggle world and in the magic world, a sort of double identity.  My mother had the cooler job though.  She was an Unspeakable in America."

            Severus smiled.  "That would be cool.  My mother is a Potions Mistress.  Sells her potions to local shops.  Makes a real good living doing it, though both she and dad come from family money."

            "Mom came from family money.  Dad didn't.  Earned his way up from average living.  Guess that's why _he_ likes him so much.  Reminds _him of _him_self."_

            They boarded the train then and found a compartment to themselves.  Jessica smiled to herself as they talked the whole way to Hogwarts.  Maybe Hogwarts was going to be a little better than home.  Maybe Riley was just going to be a little right.

*          *          *

"Seven arrests," Riley smiled.  "Doesn't hurt."

Danny shook his head as they walked into the main building of the American Department of Magic.   Andorra Dumbledore brushed past them on her way by without ever saying hi.  Danny gave her a curious look.  The sister of Albus Dumbledore, the witch was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in America and one hell of a witch, a force to be reckoned with.  Also, at 5'6", with brown hair, blue eyes, she was a pretty witch, and even though she was older, she was one that, Riley thought with a smile, had definitely caught Daniel Montgomery's eye.

"What's wrong?"  Danny called out aimlessly.

"Another attack in England," Derrick Reimer answered.  He was an older wizard, with glasses, thinning hair, and a bum leg.  His prime days as an Auror had passed and now he just worked in the department as one of Andorra's strategists.  "They believe this to be by that wizard…the one that goes by Lord Voldemort."

"What specifically happened?"  Riley asked.

Derrick looked at Andorra as she walked around the other end of the front room barking out orders before he answered.  "A Muggle's house was attacked.  No one was killed, but they had to put one hell of a Memory Charm on the Muggle son of the household.  According to the report, he was pretty frightened."

Riley looked at Danny to see him still looking at Andorra.  

"Do you think this may be a time to offer our services?"  Riley asked.

Danny shook his head.  "Not now.  We have enough trouble on our hands with what is starting to occur over here."

Riley nodded.  "True.  And the Brits are one up on us even."

Danny gave him a curious look.

"They have a name, whereas we have no idea who is trying to plan attacks here."

"Voldemort?"  Danny said.  Riley nodded to which Danny snorted.  "That's not a name.  That's a costume to hide behind.  Lord Voldemort.  It's the crockiest costume I've ever heard in my whole damn life."

Riley bit his lip as Danny walked back out still mumbling under his bath.  "Yeah, Lord Voldemort Smoldemort.  I know what I would call him if I saw him…"

Riley followed him with a smirk.

*          *          *

            "We're going to win again, so instead of cheering, I'm going to save my strength for my homework," Jessica told Severus as they sat in the Quidditch stands.

            She laughed when his jaw dropped from its hinges.

            "Gosh, before I talked I shoulda bet someone I coulda shocked you," Jessica smiled.

            "I cannot believe you are going out of your way for your homework."

            "I imagined that's what you thought from the jaw drop."  
            "My jaw did not drop."

            "It did too."

            "It did not."

            "Did too."

            "Did not."

            "Did too."

            "I am not going to continue this!"  Severus had to shout the last as cheers rang up when Slytherin scored another point.

            Jessica smirked.

            "You're incorrigible," Severus muttered.

            "I'm a what?"  She gave him a bewildered looked.

            "Incorrigible.  It means that nothing really stops you, you're persistent."

            "That's a good thing, isn't it?"  She asked.

            "Some of the time.  In the context in which I used it with you, it was not a compliment."

            "I like to listen to you talk," she said suddenly.

            "What?"  Severus finally looked at her.

            "It's so proper," she said.  "I like listening to you."  When all he did was sit and stare at her like she sprouted a third head, she turned back to the game.

*          *          *

            _Jess-_

_                        Are you and Severus Snape dating?  I rarely see one of you without the other.  It makes me laugh._

_                        I've heard some rumors about Snape though.  They say that his mother works for this Lord Voldemort.  Does she?  Does Snape know who Voldemort is?  Everyone here says he does.  They say that you know too, but I don't believe that.  You wouldn't keep something like that a secret._

_                        I can't believe the antics of James Potter and his two friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.  Sometimes they're funny, but mostly they are just plain annoying.  And you won't believe what James did the other day!  I was having a fight with Narcissa Black when Malfoy walked up and started insulting me.  James walked up and started into a fight with Malfoy.  A physical fight!  When I asked James why he fought with Malfoy, he said it was to protect me!  The nerve of him!!  Urgh!_

_                        I've got to get back to my homework.  Hope all is going well with you!_

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Lily_

*          *          *

            Severus reclined against the tree to read their Transfiguration textbook.  Jessica laid next to him on her stomach reading their Potions textbook.

            "This is boring," she said.

            "Keep reading quietly," Severus murmured.

            "Why?"

            "Because I want to do my homework, and your talking distracts me."

            She giggled and pushed his knee before going back to her work silently.  It was about a minute later when a frog leapt onto Severus's textbook.  He just sat and stared at it in confusion before he heard a voice and a few running feet.

            "Hey, slimy Slytherin," Sirius Black said.  "Give us that back."  Standing behind him were the rest of the Gryffindor boys.

            Severus started to hand it back up, but Sirius, in the guise of trying to grab it, slapped it out of Severus's hand.  The frog went flying.  Upon landing, it took off jumping again.

            "Ah, now look what you did," Black said.  "Go get it."

            Severus started to stand up, but Jessica put a hand on his knee.  Without looking up from his textbook, she said, "It's his frog, his problem.  Leave it be."

            "Shut up, Ziners," Black quickly retorted.  When Severus looked at him again, Sirius pointed to the direction the frog had leapt.

            "Severus, no," Jessica finally looked up at him, but it wouldn't be the command that kept Severus still.  It was Jessica's eyes.  They were a deep, stormy blue, and they were getting darker by the second.

            "You taking orders from a _girl…Snivellus?"  Sirius asked with a self-satisfied smirk.  The Gryffindor boys snickered._

            Severus started to get up again, but this time Jessica followed.  "Sirius Black, get your own frog before I make you do it," she growled.

            Sirius started to retort but was caught short when he noticed her normally bright eyes.  They were so dark that you couldn't tell the pupil from the rest of the coloring in the eye.

            "What is wrong with you, Ziners?"  Black asked, disgust in his voice.

            Before she could answer, James grabbed Sirius's shoulder.  Severus noticed something on Potter's face that confused him.  He was looking at Jessica's but some nervous understanding was there.  Finally though, James turned from Jessica, whose eyes never left Sirius'.  "Let's leave Ziners and her man-servant.  He probably couldn't find the frog if it was still in his lap."

            "Next time _I_ see that frog, Potter," Jessica said, "it'll be cooked before I stuff it down Black's throat."

            The boys were already moving on though.

            When Jessica turned to talk to Severus, he was gone.  She scanned the area and found him stomping back up to the castle, his bag slung over his shoulder.  Jessica sighed before picking up her things and following him inside.

*          *          *

            Severus ignored her for about a week before just surrendering to letting her hang around him.  There was only one time when either spoke aloud about what happened with Black.

            "Never defend me again."

            She pretended she didn't hear him though they both knew that she had.

*          *          *

            _Lily-_

_                        James and his friends can go jump off a cliff for all I care.  All of the Gryffindor boys can join them. _

_                        Don't hold me with such high aspirations, Lily.  Many of the rumors about me, my father, and the Ziners have some truth to them.  Don't talk to me about them and don't ask about them.  The last thing I want to do is lie to you._

_                        Don't rag on James for defending you.  He was probably just jumping at the chance to beat on Malfoy.  I know those two hate each other.  They pretty much have as long as I've known them._

_                        Well, I better go before Severus rags on me for not doing my homework._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Jess_

*          *          *

 "We won the Quidditch Cup.  Can you see my surprise?"  Jessica smirked at Jeff Rin as he walked past.  Jessica and Severus were out on the lawn doing homework.  Well, Severus was.  Jessica was lying back on the green grass, staring up at the big blue sky.

Jeff chuckled.  "That we did, and your immense surprise pleases me.  Question though.  More of a statement actually, but you will see my question within it."

"Yes?"  
            "We will be short a Beater and Seeker next year."

"I will be trying out for Seeker," she said then smiled at Severus, who was hunched over, engrossed in his book, "and I just might have a Beater to bring with me."

Jeff glanced at the oblivious Severus before looking back at Jessica.  "Do you think he would be any good?"  
            "I think he would have an eye for it and some good quick judgment."

Jeff nodded, sparing Severus a look before he left.

"I cannot be a Beater."

Jessica looked at Severus's back.  He kept his eyes locked on the book.  She knew though he had been listening.  "Why not?"  She asked calmly.

"I would not be any good at it."

"All you have is to strengthen up your arms a bit.  You already do that by helping out Professor Rum lifting all that stuff in the Potions Supply Room."

This time, Severus did turn to look at her.  "How did you know I do that?"

"Just because I talk a lot doesn't mean I don't notice anything.  You would be surprised if you knew all of what I do in my spare time."

"I know what you do.  You follow me around constantly," Severus growled.

"I do not!"

Severus gestured at her beside him.  "What do you call this?"

"I'm sitting next to you."

"Why?"

"Because we were walking and then you wanted to sit and do you homework, so 

you came over here, sat, and I fo—I sat next to you."

            Severus pointed at her.  "You even almost said it!"

            "I do not follow you around," Jessica said with a haughty tone as she looked away.

            "Yes, you do, Ziners, and I am only going to say this one more time.  Stop it!"

            "I am not taking this from you," she said and sat up, grabbed her bag, stood up, and took off back towards the school.

            About two minutes later, Severus realized he had stopped reading and was rather just staring at the page stewing.

*          *          *

Jessica sat across from him that night in the library.  They didn't talk, but, for some reason, it was all right between both of them.  They studied for their Potions final.  She even asked him a question about one of the potions, and he answered.  There was a little tension, but Severus really didn't want to address it.  Thankfully, Jessica didn't seem to want to push it either.  She was giving him his space.  It was as if she already knew that he wasn't the apologizing kind, and she respected it.

But that was just plain insane.  She understanding him??  Anyone understanding him was an insane thought.  She was accommodating his desire not to talk or apologize.  Someone going out of their way for him?  Nonsense.

Then a thought struck him that shocked and surprised him.

He actually was thinking of apologizing to someone.

Severus just dug his nose deeper into his Potions book.

On the way back to the Common Room, Jessica whispered to him, "Are we okay?"

"You aren't," he whispered back quietly.

She rolled her eyes at him.  "I mean, are you still mad?"

Severus returned the roll of the eyes as they went through the entrance.

Jessica smiled.  She didn't think he was really mad with her anyway.  She actually thought he was beginning to like her.  That was good because she was _really_ beginning to like him.

*          *          *

Jessica didn't get a chance to see Severus on the way back to Platform 9 and ¾.  His mum had desperate need for him at home and had sent for him the night before.

When Jessica got off the train, she had expected to see Uncle Danny.  She yearned for the sight of his friendly face above the crowd, but it was not to be had.  Curious and confused, Jessica went to retrieve her luggage and then go search for her ride, but that was not to be had either.  As soon as she turned from retrieving her trunk, there stood her escort back to America.  Tom Riddle smiled down at her.

"Your uncle was temporarily disposed of at the moment so I told him I would come in his place."

"You haven't done anything to him, have you?"  She asked angrily.  Her voice was too quiet for the other kids to hear.

"No, no, my dear.  Though annoying he may be, he still has his uses."  Tom turned away but stopped and waited until Jessica was ready to follow him.  The 11-year old may hate him but both knew that now was not the time and here was not the place to let the world know the truth.  Therefore, Jessica did the obligatory thing—she followed her Godfather to the portkey.

As they walked through the London streets, she muttered; it wasn't low enough though that the noisy streets covered it.

"Don't mutter, dear.  It's not very proper and not very becoming of you."

"I thought that you thought all Americans were savages and bad and overall worse than the English."  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Jessica regretted them.  There was only one way she could have known that he said that…

"You're lucky that other people are around," Tom said as casually as though they were discussing the weather.  "I will make sure your eavesdropping does not go unpunished."

Jessica remained quiet for the next minute.  Tom finally spoke again.  "I would like to pick up on our previous conversation…"

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"As I said before, Riddle, I won't tell you.  It's my duty to protect them."

"Even me from them?"  Tom asked after a pause.

"If you weren't the one I was protecting them from."  Jessica answered as she turned down the alley.  Before he followed, she touched the sign on the edge of the building with a determination that she didn't even put into a tough piece of homework.  She was scared, and he could smell that.  She didn't care.  All she wanted was to get home to a place where she could at least run and hide for a bit from the terror that occupied her home at night, and whenever he Godfather visited.

Riddle followed her actions with a smug smile.

to be continued……….

Feedback is fun.


	4. Pain and Party

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 4: Pain and Party**

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  You know the drill.

Notes:  There are a lot of original characters in my story and a lot of added qualities to the ones out of the books, so it was suggested to me to make a character list with descriptions.  Since there are too many to list each time, I'll list the ones mentioned in the chapter (and, when it comes to the characters from the book, I will list them only when the added qualities are important).  I hope eventually to have a link to a master list.  I will provide a link in each chapter when I am able to set it up.  Until then, you will get the pre-chapter lists.  (Feedback to whether a character list is helpful or not would be appreciated).  (I will separate the characters into the categories of good, bad, and neutral.)

**_Neutral:_**

**Jessica Ziners:**  Jessica is 11-years old and has just finished her First Year at Hogwarts.  Her father is Jeffery Ziners, a businessman in the both the Magic world and Muggle world.  Lily is Jessica's best friend in the Muggle world, and now in the magic world.  In the Magic world, another close friend of Jessica's, pre-Hogwarts, is James Potter.  Jessica's brother is Casey.  He is one year younger than her.  Jessica's mother was Madeline Montgomery Ziners.  Jessica's uncle is Daniel Montgomery.  When it's not school, Jessica lives with her father and brother in America (Texas to be precise).  They live on what, to Muggle eyes, looks like a ranch, but, to the Magic world, is the American Department of Magic.  Jessica is in Slytherin House at Hogwarts.

**Casey Ziners:**  The younger brother of Jessica Ziners, Casey is small for his age.  He is one year younger than his older sister, but they are best friends.  

**Madeline Ziners:**  Madeline died before my storyline started.  She was the mother of Jessica and Casey.  Jessica looks a lot like her.  Madeline's brother, Daniel Montgomery, was younger than her.  Madeline attended Hogwarts and was in Slytherin House.  She was best friends with Tom Riddle and Jeffery Ziners from the start.  Jeffery and she started dating their Fifth Year.  Madeline was an Unspeakable for the Department of Magic in America.

**_Good:_**

**Marcus Potter:**  This is James' father.  He is one of the top Aurors in England (so important, he even has his own private office).  He is married to Brittany Potter, and James is their only child.  Marcus was a Gryffindor in school.  He is friends with Daniel Montgomery.  Currently, Marcus is focusing most of his energy on the case of identifying and apprehending Lord Voldemort and his band of cronies.  The rest of his energy is being focused on a self-appointed private case: finding out if Jessica and Casey are being abused by their father, and, if so, removing them from that home.

**Brittany Potter:**  This is James' mother.  She is an Auror in England as well, though more low profile than her husband.  She is married to Marcus Potter, and James is their only child.  She was a Gryffindor as well in school.  Though she has other cases, she helps out with the Voldemort case.

**Adam Rin:**  He is the current Minister of Magic.  He is also the father of Jeff and Julie Rin, two current students at Hogwarts.

**Jeff Rin:**  He currently attends Hogwarts, Slytherin House.  He is four years older than Jessica.  He is the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, position of Beater.  He is a model student who gets good grades (with no cheating).  He isn't your altogether regular Slytherin.  He is probably the only Slytherin who doesn't know true identity of Voldemort, but Jeff does know that pretty much everyone in his house does know the identity.  But, like every Slytherin, Jeff knows, in that house, if you want to survive, you play by a certain set of rules.  Jeff has a fraternal twin sister named Julie.  His father is Adam Rin, Minster of Magic.

**Julie Rin:**  Julie is Jeff's fraternal twin.  Her father is Adam Rin, Minster of Magic.  She is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team with a position of Beater.  A model student, she can hold her own mentally, physically, and emotionally.

**Michael Snape:**  The father of Severus and Salazar Snape and the husband of Rebella.  He also is the Head of International Magically Cooperation and, unfortunately, not home a lot.  He attended Hogwarts, though he was not in Slytherin House.

**Daniel Montgomery:**  Jessica's uncle.  He is the best Auror in America.  He also heads up the special division known as the Dark Operators.  Daniel is exceptionally tall and broad, though not "round."  He attended Hogwarts and was in Slytherin.  He was three years younger than Madeline.

**Riley Haderson:**  The second best Auror in America.  He is also the second in command of the Dark Operators.  He's in his early thirties, with longish darker brown hair, goatee, and intense brown eyes.  He wears glasses, but they do not take from "his roguish appeal."

**_Bad:_**

**Jeffery Ziners:**  The father of Jessica and Casey, he lives in Texas but works abroad as a financial investor in both the Muggle and Magic world.  He frequently takes his children with him.  He went to Hogwarts with Tom Riddle and was a Slytherin as well.  They were best friends during that time and afterwards.  Currently, Jeffery is Riddle's major financial backer and one of his most loyal servants.  Jeffery's wife was Madeline Montgomery Ziners.

**Tom Riddle:**  Well, we all should know this guy.  Lord Voldemort.  In my story, though, he has some other roles as well.  He is good friends with Jeffery Ziners.  Riddle is also Jessica Ziners' Godfather.  Tom Riddle is an Auror in England.  He works for Marcus Potter, and his sole case is…you guessed it, "finding out the identity and apprehending Lord Voldemort and his band of cronies."  We all know that Riddle is doing the opposite of that, but Marcus and most others don't.  

**Death Eaters:**  They are currently establishing the identity we know them as.

**Maria Ziners:**  Jessica's older cousin.  Maria currently attends Hogwarts and is in Slytherin House.  She has a crush on Jeff Rin.  Maria is the only daughter of Jonathon Ziners, the Secretary of Magic in America.

**Jonathan Ziners:**  The Secretary of Magic in America, Jessica's uncle, Jeffery's brother, and Maria's father.

**Harriet Mull:**  A friend of Maria Ziners who has schooling in the States.

**Rebella Snape:**  The mother of Severus and Salazar Snape and the wife of Michael Snape.  She is also a Potions Mistress and is in business of selling her potions, though she mainly supplies Lord Voldemort.  She is also one of Voldemort's many mistresses.

**Salazar Snape:**  Severus' brother.  His parents are Michael and Rebella Snape.  He is one year younger than Severus.

**Belisma Black:**  Narcissa Black's mother and Sirius Black's aunt.

**Alodie Malfoy:**  Lucius' mother and Ignatius' wife.

**Ignatius Malfoy:**  Lucius Malfoy's father.  He is an assistant to Minister Rin.  He is just like the man that Lucius will become.  He use to be best friends with Michael Snape.  The relationship is maintained for appearances but neither feels the affection quite anymore.

Okay, now let the fun began:

            "Casey!  Come here!"  Jeffery Ziners bellowed from his study.

            Casey slowly rose from the kitchen table, a book of defensive spells sitting open in front of him.  Jessica sat across from her brother, her potions book open, a partially filled out parchment sitting next to it.  She glanced at Casey's book as he stood up.

            "Shut your mouth," he said.  "I know…how ironic."

            "I wasn't going to say that," she whispered quietly.  "Want me to go in there with you?"

            "After the beating you got for defending me during Christmas break?  No way.  Let him go after me awhile.  He'll get bored with it.  He always does."

            "Jessica, you, too!"  Her father added.  "I just talked to Tom!"

            "What's that about?"  Casey asked as she got up and the two started slowly towards the study.

            "I eavesdropped on Tom and Dad and accidentally let something slip to Tom."

            Casey cringed.  Offenses against their dad, something Casey did quite often and always quite unintentionally, were one thing.  Offenses against the great Tom Riddle were a _whole other thing._

            Both kids walked into their father's study and stood before him, legs spread, hands crossed in front of their stomachs, heads down.  

            Jeffery Ziners was sitting at his desk, bent over some papers writing.  Jeffery, when he was standing, wasn't exactly a tall man, but he wasn't short either.  His strength and forbearing did not come in strength of muscles but rather in quickness of mind, and what a mind it was and not just in number and strength of his magical spells.  He had been recruited by several businesses after his schooling but had sought to start his own, some odd compelling bringing him to work in both the magical and Muggle world soon after his near immediate success in investing his wife's money in certain businesses and helping them to become more successful than their wildest dreams had told them.  He may seem a nobleman by that description, but, rest assured, he wasn't.  He did it for his profit and his profit alone.

            When Jeffery looked up, Jessica was once again nervous.  Jeffery had piercing black eyes, a shade darker than anyone's imagination, a shade Jessica herself had inherited but a shade that only came about when she was at her worst.  Jeffery's hair was also black.  Neither child had inherited that, but Casey had inherited its natural spiky quality.  Jeffery remained seated as he spoke.

            "Jessica," Jeffery said an impatient note in his voice, "Tom has told me that he believes that you were eavesdropping on a conversation we had.  You know I do not tolerate such things."  Jessica looked up at him and gave him an even look as she tried to reach discretely for her wand.  "For that, I will punish you."

            "With what, Sir?"  Jessica asked slowly, expecting to hear 'with the Strickiomus Curse,' a curse that would allow him to whip her as though with a belt or a leather strap but instead with his wand, something that Jeffery used often on his kids.  

            "With a Crucio," he answered absently as he finished up his paperwork.  There were only few curses Jessica preferred the Strickiomus to and the Crucio was one of them.  

            "And what did Casey do, Sir?"  Jessica asked even as she gripped her wand tightly, her mind spinning with the words _Slowmia Capila_…

            "He spilled water over my latest finance readings," Jeffery responded, almost dismissively.

            "What will be his punishment, Sir?"  Jessica asked as casually as she could.  She knew by now that Casey had felt this surge of power within her, their link humming with the message _run when I say to, but her brother kept his eyes down.  She felt every muscle in his body resting before he would spring them into action._

            Everything was ready, everything was perfect, and Jessica knew she would be able to say the curse, the hateful words that had to follow _Slowmia Capila…_

            "To deliver your Crucio."

            Jessica's surprised eyes shot up to Father's.  He was standing now, his eyes and mouth smiling tauntingly at her.  In that instant she hid her wand.  He had won.  Again.

            "Jessica," he chuckled.  "Things work so very simply in your mind, but that will change.  Tom will be a good tutor.  He will teach your mind," Jeffery smiled proudly to himself before reaching out his hand.  "Hand me your wand, my girl."

            She handed over her wand obediently.

            He looked at it with a smirk.  "Wood with a bit of serpent fang, a bit of eagle's claw, a bit badger's claw, and a bit of lion's teeth.  A piece of each of the founders of Hogwarts.  Just like your mum's.  Ollivander knew you were coming."

            _No, he didn't_, Jessica muttered to herself.  Ollivander had made one soon after her own mother bought hers.  He probably was in the process of making one for Jessica's offspring when they came about.  He would do that after every one of Jessica's kind came through.  The eldest of each of her descendants bore this same type of wand.  Ollivander made another after each purchase and put in a box in the back, awaiting its next owner, the only wand Ollivander could perfectly predict its owner upon entrance through his door.

"As I said, daughter, you have a very simple mind.  Simple revenge on me, _your dear father_," he seemed appalled at the very idea._  "You will soon learn.  You hate me now," he set her wand on his desk to look at her with supposedly wiser eyes as he walked around the mahogany wooden structure, "but soon you will understand the rigorness of yours and Casey's training.  It serves a higher purpose, a higher master.  You will someday thank me when you stand beside the most masterful wizard this world has ever seen."  He looked between both of his children._

Casey's fear was now gone in bewilderment at this new sort of punishment.  He had never had them punish each other before.  As much as Casey couldn't believe that, Casey also couldn't believe that he was having _Casey_ punish _Jessica_.  Jeffery was always telling his son how much his sister had over him in the way of magical power.

            "Casey," Jeffery said as he went to lean his bum against the front of his desk and crossing his arms in boredom, "I trust Tom's taught you the Cruciatus Curse."

            "N—" Casey paused when Jessica gave him a sharp look.  _What do you want me to do, Casey asked her through their link, __Give you a Crucio?  He was surprised at her response._

            _Yes.  It will be better now if you obey rather than later if you didn't._

            "Oh, shut both your minds up," Jeffery growled.  Both children knew he hated it when they used their link to talk rather than their voices.  It reminded both children that they held a power over him that made him nervous.  They would have smiled if the situation had not been as serious as it was.  "Now, Casey," Jeffery turned a dark look over at his son, "do you or do you not know how to do a Crucio?"

            "Ye-yes, Sir," Casey stuttered, nervous when fixed with the glare.

            "Okay, then, Jessica," Jeffery looked at her and acted though as this was as casual and commonplace as his tea in the morning.  "Stand a bit over there."

            _Wouldn't want you to miss, now would he?_  Casey shot his sister a glare.  How could she act like this, now of all times?  _Do it, Casey.  I've been okay when he's done it to me before.  I will be with you too.  But only be half-hearted.  Pretend I'm just annoying.  Like Maria._

            Casey fought the urge to nod in response.  As he stared at her when she placed herself in a position, slightly bent forward so as to hopefully take most of the incoming fall on her bum rather than her head, Casey couldn't help but wonder what life might have been like for him had he been another 10-year wizard without the Montgomery in him that he possessed.  Maybe the son of Jeffery Ziners but of a different witch rather than his deceased mother.  Maybe Father wouldn't be so insistent on a constant demonstration of their power, a power that Jeffery himself felt he wielded.

            "Do it, son," Jeffery said.  "Do it."

            _Do it for life, Case.  For something beyond Father, because, I promise you one day, I will best him.  Do it for the day he will hear Slowmia Capila.  Because, I promise you, my brother, he will hear it._

            Casey roared the words he longed to turn elsewhere.  "Crucio!"

            Jessica flew back with a force that made Casey regret this power.  When she hit the floor with a thud that made her unconscious, Casey let up on the curse.

            "Did I tell you to stop?"  Father roared, starting towards him.

            "She's unconscious," Casey tried as Jeffery loomed over him.

            "She won't be for long," their father growled before straightening up and backing away a step.  "Do it.  Give it again."  When Casey hesitated, he growled, "Or you'll regret it."

            "I already do," Casey muttered before starting to rear back but the Strickiomus Curse hit his back, sending Casey to his knees.

            "Get up," Jeffery said as though he didn't know what he just did.

            Casey got up slowly.

            "Get up!"  Jeffery growled again.

            Casey glared at him, earning himself a Strickiomus across his face.  Casey held his bloody cheek until he saw the look Jeffery was giving him.  He removed the hand and let the blood pool on his cheek before dripping to his light blue shirt.  When Casey didn't move back into position again quickly enough for Jeffery's liking, he earned another Strickiomus across the front of the knees and then a quick one on the back of his knees before another slap across the back while Casey was on all fours.

            "Get up or I'll make it worse."

            Casey fought the tears of pain and bit back yelps when he earned himself a number of whips across the back for not getting up the exact second commanded.  Casey looked through his blurred vision up at the limp Jessica.  No, the other option was worse.  He would take this.  He knew that this would pass.  It was the shame of torturing his sister that wouldn't.

            But, as his father always did, Jeffery found a way to make the best option look worse.

            His wand suddenly pointed at Jessica, Jeffery started, "Ava—"

            "Crucio!"  Casey yelled at the starting to wake Jessica.  He was still on his knees.  As he watched his sister shake in pain, his eyes filled with tears.

*          *          *

"Hello, Tom," Marcus said quietly as he read a recent report about an attack in America.  It had happened about 2 days ago.  While they were able to minimize relative damage, all the attackers had gotten away.  The attack was close enough to the Department of Magic that they had put it on High Alert.  It remained in that status.      

Marcus was resting a hip against his wife's desk, his eyes glued to the report.  Tom would wait.  Impatiently, but he would wait.  Marcus was annoyed with the man.  Tom thought he could run off on his assignments and not report in for weeks at a time.  When the bosses couldn't yell at the absent Riddle, his immediate supervisor, Marcus, took the blame.  Tom could sure as hell wait for Marcus while he finished the report.

When he was done, he handed it back to his wife.  "Send an owl out to Daniel Montgomery.  Tell him what I told you about my suspicions about the attack in America."

Brittany nodded and immediately set to work on it.  Marcus moved on to his office.  He had to pause a minute before the insolent Tom would follow him.  

Tom Riddle was a damn fine Auror that had come with some damn fine recommendations.  He had attended Hogwarts, Marcus just starting to attend the year after Riddle left.  After schooling, Tom went on a "specialized" training course in Albania, and subsequently worked for a number of years outside of England.  This was during the time Marcus was working his way up among the English Aurors.  Marcus supposed his elevated position over Tom caused some of the animosity between them.  Tom was older and more experienced.  Of this, Marcus would not argue.  The only reason Marcus held the position as Tom's immediate boss was because Minister Rin did not know if he could trust Tom to run around with a supervisor that would be afraid to exert some control on him.  

That was another thing, Marcus thought to himself.  Many people said that Tom made them nervous, or even scared.  Marcus would give them that.  Tom just had that _quality about him.  It was that suspicious quality that gave him that extra edge he had as an Auror.  It gave Tom that one thing that made him invaluable in this mission to locate this Lord Voldemort.  He could blend in with the type of people Lord Voldemort had in his little band.  Tom could fit in with the crowd Lord Voldemort surrounded himself with, and Marcus would make a cautious bet that Tom could even fit in to the point that this Lord Voldemort would one day approach Tom about joining.  _That_ was a bet that Marcus prayed he would one day finally win._

Upon entering his office, Marcus moved behind his desk and sat before telling Tom to shut the door.

"Okay, what do you have for me this time?"  Marcus asked, impatient himself.

"A damn shadow," Tom replied irritable.  "You sent me after a damn shadow.  Mitchell Hideson has been dead for 2 months."

"Dead?"  When Tom nodded, Marcus slammed a hand on his desk and stood up to start furious pacing behind it.  "Cause of death?"

"Fire.  I only found his ashes.  Gary Rum over at Hogwarts did some tests on them.  They were most likely Mitchell."

"Our only lead to Voldemort…" Marcus shook his head angrily.  "Our only talker, dead.  He had to have been found out…but how?"

Tom took a long minute, staring into space as he thought hard.  Finally, he announced, "We have a leak.  What else?  Everyone knew we were excited about something with this case.  Someone here is a Voldemort follower and wanted to do his master a service."

Marcus had stopped to look at Tom while he talked.  He grew angrier by the second, his annoyance with Tom's lateness quickly passing.  "Damit," Marcus growled.  "You're probably right.  From now, nothing.  We act frustrated with this case all the time.  I will think of a way to bring this spy out.  For now, we just act frustrated."

Tom nodded.  "Yes, good thinking.  In the interim, I will go peruse the pubs for information."

"Yes, yes, you do that," Marcus said as a note distracted him on his desk.  Just as Tom was about to leave, Marcus looked back up at him.  "You showed up in London last week but didn't report to me then, why?"

Tom hesitated for a second before smiling.  "I'm sincerely sorry about that.  A friend asked me to pick up his daughter from the train station and escort her back to America.  I did so, then became unavoidably detained for much longer than I would have liked."  Marcus nodded and bid him bye. When Tom left, Marcus sat back down on his seat to read the note someone had left on his desk.

_Marcus,_

_            All you need is a witness to the injury to start an investigation.  It won't matter that it's in another country.  According to Family Decree Number 112, the country for the schooling can be considered a good authority in situations such as this._

_            I'm warning you though.  You can start an investigation, but that won't move the children out of the home.  It'll take a decree signed by both the Secretary of Magic in __America__ and the Minister of Magic here.  Adam Rin won't present much of a problem, but American Secretary of Magic John Ziners might._

_                                                                                                            Cheers,_

_                                                                                                                        Eric_

            Marcus put down the note with a sigh.  One more hoop.

            But, rest assured.

            He would jump through it.

*          *          *

            It was a month into their isolation.  Casey sat in the far corner of his room.  On the other side of the wall his head was leaning against where he knew Jessica's head sat on the other side.  Their father always thought he was smarter than they were, but they had learned long ago from a barely remembered mother, what others don't know can hurt them.

            Jessica and Casey's ability to talk to each other in their minds was limited to only when they were in the same room…or so Jeffery thought.  If they were connected by objects, they could still talk.  For insistence, if they touched the same wall, though in different rooms, they could talk.  

Their uncle didn't wholeheartedly agree with their father's rigorous punishments, these weeks on end in their rooms, but after hearing the detailed made-up (but believable) stories of Jeffery's horribly temperamental children, their uncle had to bite his tongue.  The only thing that gave him wonder about these punishments, Casey would guess, was that they weren't that horribly temperamental elsewhere.

            _Maybe it is better at Hogwarts_.

            Casey didn't respond to his sister's sudden comment.  There were footsteps outside their rooms.  Casey threw himself towards his bed to lie on his stomach, feigning sleep.  He supposed he had something of a dream room, the best clothes money could buy, two large bookshelves filled with the best books money could buy, a large, nice desk, a four-poster bed with the most comfortable linen.  But Casey didn't like his room.  Most of his time spent here was either sleeping or recovering.  Or grabbing new books (he did actually read the books his father bought; one day soon Jeffery would regret that he had bought the books for Casey, Casey hoped).

            "They're grounded, Marcus.  I would prefer that they not be shown any mercy at this point."  It was their father.

            "What did they do?"  Marcus Potter asked.

            "They were practicing the killing curse on some smaller animals.  When I walked up on them, they were discussing certain people they would like to try it on."

            Casey fought a sardonic smirk.  He could just hear Jessica now.  'Got one right, the old man did!'

Casey waited for the two to move on, but Potter seemed to be hesitating.

            "Have you talked to them about it?"

            "Marcus, I appreciate your concern, but they are my children and I will handle them the best way possible.  After all, as their parent, I believe I know them best."

            Marcus hesitated for such a long time that Casey thought that they maybe left without him hearing their footfalls, but when the Auror spoke again, Casey knew that they remained outside his door.

            "Okay," Marcus said quietly.  There was another moment before he started walking again.

            Casey remained on his bed, his eyes wide open.  What was that about?

*          *          *

            "Hello, Daniel," Marcus greeted entering the small used-to-be meeting room.   It was the Offices of the Dark Operators now, and Marcus had to smile at the utter mess.  The room held 6 desks, all right in a neat little row.  Currently, Daniel Montgomery sat at the desk at the back.  Being the head of the Dark Operators, he had the pick of the desks, and he had chosen the least vulnerable one.  It was more out of habit than fear of his own team.  

The Dark Operators were an especially high-trained band of Aurors that not only used every method of apprehension in the magical world but every one in the Muggle world as well.  All of them were highly trained in a Muggle fighting method – something Marcus believed was called Karate – and they used certain types of Muggle weapons.  (One used a weapon Marcus found completely amusing.  He thought it was called something like Nun-chuckles…or was it None-Chucks…or Chuck-Nuns?)  

            "One second," Daniel said.  The room was empty of the team members currently.  Daniel currently worked alone, his big body hunched over his desk even though he was sitting.  He seemed to be writing something.  Finally, he set his quill down and looked up at Marcus with a grim smile.  "What brings you this way?  I got your owl.  Not sure what I think about it yet, but I sincerely hope you're wrong."

            "It actually is about the owl.  But, first I had a visit with your brother-in-law."

            "Why did you visit Jeffery?  I try to avoid him myself."

            Marcus gave a grim smile.  "Well, actually, I was going to visit your niece and nephew, but they seem to be grounded."

            Daniel nodded and looked back at the paper he had been writing on.  "Yeah, they were doing some things they shouldn't have been.  I'm not always in agreement with Jeffery's punishments, but I understand them.  You see," Daniel stopped pizty-diddling with his desk and his eyes moved up to give Marcus a serious look.  "Jessica and Casey are very powerful, and Jeffery wants to make sure they control their power.  This is something my parents had to do with Madeline and myself."

            Daniel was dancing around the topic of their power Marcus knew.  It was because Daniel didn't know that Marcus knew about this power of theirs.  But that was a secret better left unsaid.

            Unfortunately, Marcus didn't get what he wanted out of Daniel though.  He wanted to know if Daniel knew or had suspicions of any of these "punishments" getting out of hand.  However, Marcus sincerely doubted that Daniel knew anything.  Otherwise, Marcus was sure he would have stopped it by now.  But Marcus had been an Auror too long.  Everyone was guilty of something.  You just had to find out what.

            "Anyway," Marcus started out again, but this time a little uncomfortably.  "I had some tea with your brother-in-law, and now I am down to see you.  Where are the rest of your Dark Operators?"

            "Getting drunk I suspect," Daniel said with a serious face as he picked up a memo, causing Marcus to grin.

            "What is there to celebrate now?"

            "Nothing.  They've been under a lot of stress lately with everything.  The attack two weeks ago was the first to break through our neat little web of spying."

            "How is that young man…Alan Greenwidth?"

            "He's out of it.  Probably won't ever be normal again," Daniel answered almost dismissively.  That was the way you had to be, Marcus knew, otherwise you would be getting drunk more often.

            Finally, Daniel turned back to Marcus, a smirk playing with his big mouth.  "Riley told me that you guys are luckier than us because you have a name."

            Marcus laughed.  "Yeah…a fake one."

            Daniel chuckled and nodded.  "That's what I told him too."

            The older Auror took a deep breath before looking at Marcus.  "I'm going to tell you something, Marcus, that doesn't leave this room.  Not to Minister Rin.  Not to Amelia Black.  Absolutely not to that slithering snake Malfoy.  Not even to your second man, Riddle.  Or even your wife.  The only people that know this are my squad and Andorra Dumbledore."

            Marcus nodded.  "You have my word."

            "They had inside information in this last attack.  They knew we knew where they were going to attack, so they attacked somewhere else."

            "It could have been a coincidence," Marcus pointed out.

            "Just listen," Daniel said quietly, his eyes never leaving Marcus's.  "The afternoon before the attack I did something I don't normally do.  I told Secretary Ziners, his two assistants Grens and Lemore, and Zeckaroy, our Head of International Magical Cooperation, about the attack.  It was a meeting, and they wanted an update.  I was stupid.  I told them where it was that we were going to be hiding out and waiting."  Marcus waited silently when Daniel paused.  He was amused when the corner of the older man's mouth went up.  "But I am paranoid old freak…kind of like Alastor Moody, you know.  So, on the night of the attack, I decided to shake things up a bit.  I called in another Auror to replace Riley Haderson's position on the watch, and then had Riley walk the roads that night.  I don't know why I chose that, but I just felt that it might come of use."

            Marcus gave a quiet chuckle.  "And it did yield something I imagine."

            Daniel nodded, but he wasn't smiling now.  "Riley saw two of our suspects exit a local tavern.  He followed them.  They were yammering it up.  And, you know what they were laughing about, Marcus?"  Daniel didn't wait for an answer.  "They were laughing at me and my big mouth.  They were saying that that was my stupidity, and I would realize it that night when the attack was at a different place."

            Marcus didn't respond when Daniel stopped, causing him to nod at Marcus.  "We've got a leak.  And it's high up."

            Marcus still took a good minute to respond.  "We've got a leak too," he finally said.

            Daniel raised his eyebrows at that.

            "Two rampages of attacks," Marcus said.  "Two unknowns.  We've followed Voldemort to the States.  Now, we each have a leak.  We've got to look at the possibility I mentioned in the owl, Daniel.  We have to look at the possibility that our terrors are one and the same person."

            "Then that means," Riley said by way of making his presence known, "that we have to join forces."

            Daniel glared at him.  Marcus looked at Riley in startlement before smirking in Daniel's direction.  "Surprising two veteraned Aurors?  He's good."

            Riley ignored them as he walked further into the room.  "Why aren't you drunk?"  Daniel asked.

            "Because they were getting drunk, and I didn't want them to be vulnerable to attack.  After what happened two weeks ago, we've probably made a lot of the wrong people pissed off.

            "But, back to subject.  We join forces.  But we don't tell anyone.  Neither leak will know."

            "You're missing one vital key matter, Riley," Daniel said.

            "I know, I know.  The possibility that the leak could be a Dark Operator."  Suddenly Riley stopped.  He looked down then back at the two other Aurors.  "What if an alliance doesn't leave this room?"

            "It wouldn't be much different than now," Marcus said.  "But now that we know we're on the same track maybe that would be best."

            "But we don't even know if our terror is your terror," Daniel pointed out.

            "So?"  Marcus shrugged.  "We just coordinate our efforts from now on.  Keep in mind the possibility that these two could related even if they are not one and the same."

            Daniel looked back at Riley.  "What do you say, Haderson?"

            "I say a yes.  Anything to get you to give me half a merit."

            Daniel glared at Riley as the boy smiled.

*          *          *

Severus followed his mother through the house, the distinct taste of dread creeping up the back of his throat.  When he tried to swallow, his throat felt like it was closing.  

He did not understand why he seemed never to get use to this feeling.  He had been feeling it on a regular basis since he was two years old and his mother got this "perfect" idea of how to test the effects of her potions.  But every time she called his name, "Severus, dear!  Come to my lab!" Severus would fight the panic and fear.

His nerves had been a bundle all summer.  Calling him home from school early had been a new thing for her.  And the potion had been one of the worst he had ever tested for her.  His wounds were barely healed, and now she wanted him to try another potion.

Presently Severus walked obediently behind his mother to the lab.  She had called him to test this new potion last night, but then Father showed up unexpectedly.  He did not know that Rebella tested her potions out on their son, and she would rather that he not find out.  Severus remembered once 2 years ago when he threatened to tell Father.  She warned him that if he planned to carry through with that threat, he would only find his father's dead body.  Severus never spoke of telling his father again.

"It's a new form of Cruth," she informed him cheerily.  This statement had Severus's eyes shooting to his mother's back as she led him down the stairs to the lab.  The last version of Cruth, the one he had tested upon arrival home for summer, had made a Crucio seem like a light slap.  The potion itself was to be a combination of a Truth Serum and a Crucio, a way to deliver both the truth and pain in one fell swoop.  The problem with the last potion was that Severus had been in too much pain to utter a coherent word.

His mother pushed open the door to the basement lab.  Severus had long ago made a deal with himself that if he ever made it through life long enough to own this house, he would shatter this place to pieces and then seal it forevermore.  He would not obliterate it to oblivion however.  As much as he hated his mother, she was still a part of who he was.  She was still a part of his heritage.  And this was where she did her best work.  Severus would respect that.

"Okay, Severus, sit over there."  She pointed to the chair that was, in Severus's mind, a place that matched no other.  It was hell in its purest form.  It was pain in all its glory.  It was unhappiness, sadness; it was ache in all the ways it hurt.  The chair itself was older…wooden and chipped.  Severus himself had caused many of those chips when thrashing about in pain from many of the potions he received while sitting in the chair.  The chair also had straps, two on each of the two front legs, one for the ankle, the other for the knee.  There were two on each arm, one for the wrist and the other for the elbow.  Lastly, there was the one Severus despised the most – one large strap near the top of the chair, sitting there just waiting to hold his neck in place.

Severus sat slowly because there was nothing else he could do.

Rebella glanced at him.  "Get your legs and neck while I ready this."

Severus slowly reached down.  He strapped each ankle with the care he put into everything he did.  It was a slow process, but it was the way he was.  He could feel the leather of the strap, the metal of the buckle – he noticed that the metal was starting to rust.  He also noticed that he could squeeze one more hole over than usual.  When he reached over to the other, he pressed his fingers around his ankle and realized that his ankle felt bonier.  Severus strapped that ankle similarly before leaning back to get his knees.  He thought the knees were the next worse than the neck.  The Strapping of the Knees was the beginning of the solidification of your imprisonment in this chair.  It was the start of not being able to move.  But, with the knees, there were still a way to move without hurting yourself too bad.  

Severus reached up to get the one around the neck.  His mother had cut this one especially for Severus.  She had realized that he would not strap that one tight, so she cut it to make sure the strap would just start to cut off his ability to breathe without actually killing him.  It wasn't enough that she downgraded Severus and tested potions on him.  No, she had to go one step further to remind him that she held the power.

"Okay," Rebella said, turning.  She had a small vial in her hands and wasn't even bothering to look up at Severus.  She knew he would obey her.  He always did.  She threw a spell at the rest of the straps, and they tied themselves.  _The one with the power, __Severus thought again to himself.  He had tried for many years to become smarter than her, and, in a way, he once thought he had.  But she still was stronger than he was.  Severus thought about his father again._

Rebella smirked at him.  "Too bad you are too much like your father," she said, making him remember that she had the ability "read" his mind.  "If you weren't so much like him, and more like _me_, Master would be more likely to accept you to his inner circle."  She started to hum and smiled as the potion started to turn a different color.  The sudden changing of color reminded him of Jessica and her eyes, causing him to have to work at biting back a smile.  He needed to keep his neutral, impassive face.

"But you surprised me with that brilliant idea of yours.  Becoming friends with Jessica Ziners.  That was beyond clever, Severus," she squealed as she started towards him with the potion.  Severus heard her words, but all he saw was the liquid in the vial.

"The Dark Lord has high expectations for her and her brother.  They are very powerful, you see.  Very, very powerful, Master says.  They will help him to make the world see what you and I already know, Severus.  Everyone will one day know that Lord Voldemort is the most powerful wizard, even more powerful than that dimwit Dumbledore.  One day, Severus…one day…"

She pressed the potion to his lips and forced his head to tip a little, nearly causing him to gag.  But Severus knew the consequences of gagging so he worked fervently at swallowing the potion with a relaxed throat even as his eyes burned with tears.  It smarted the whole way down his windpipe, causing his eyes to water even more.  Severus could feel it make the whole journey into his system…he could feel the stinging throughout his whole body…he was just waiting for what he knew would come…

Suddenly, it hit.  It felt as though electric shocks were going through him, starting in the brain, but pushing through as though they were knives.  Severus was vaguely aware of his head banging from side to side.  And there was a piercing scream, but Severus couldn't tell from where.  It felt like his head had cracked open.  Suddenly, Severus became acutely aware of some blood on his head.

"Severus," he heard this female voice.  "Severus."  Severus screamed.

"Severus," the voice said one final time.  "Who is Jessica Ziners?"

"A friend!"  He screamed again in pain.  He was fuzzily aware of a voice in the back of his head calling him an idiot for answering.  But he didn't see any other choice.

"Why did you make friends with her?"

"I didn't!  She made friends with me!"

The female voice was quiet for so long than Severus almost forgot about her in the haze of pain.

"Have you told anyone about our connection to Lord Voldemort?"

"NO!!"  Severus became aware of getting off balance, as though he were falling.  Suddenly though he was righted.

"I don't think so," the voice said.  "One last question for now.  Who is your Lord and Master?"

"Lord Voldemort!!!"

*          *          *

            "He's a bastard."

            Jessica slid down next to Casey.  They had been released just an hour before from their 6-week grounding.  Both were stiff, sore, sun-deprived, and unhappy.  Presently, they were sitting behind one of the Auror Training Houses and going through a miniature father-bashing session.

            "And we can safely say he's a son of a bitch," Jessica said seriously.

            Casey gave a sardonic chuckle to that.  "And we can safely say that."  Both remembered their deceased grandma quite well.

            "Look what I found here!"

            Neither kid moved.  They weren't about to spend any valuable energy on looking at their cousin.

            Maria was still squealing when Harriet Mull came around the corner.  Harriet giggled.  "It's the vampires.  They can't stand the sunlight."

            Both Casey's eyes and Jessica's glanced at the edge of the shadow the barn was casting over them.  _Can we get any stupider?_  Jessica asked Casey through their link.

            _Dad_ was Casey's simple answer.

            "Father said that you were in this time for eavesdropping on Lord Voldemort," Maria said with a smirk.

            "Yep," Jessica said.  The siblings had yet to look at their cousin.

            Harriet gasped.  "Why did you do that?"

            Jessica finally turned, but it was the other way to look at Casey.  She smiled.  He smiled back.  Then they reached up to clasp their hands together.

            "Oh, they're going to start that freaky thing again!"  Harriet yelled.

            The siblings' illusion of fun was soon shattered when around the corner came their uncle, John Ziners, the Secretary of Magic.  John was a tall man with an already full head of gray hair.  Jessica knew where he had gotten that full head of gray hair, and though he had worked mighty hard for it, it wasn't his age that gave it to him.

            "Maria," John said, surprising all present.  "Don't.  Not the time.  _He's near.  _He_ wants every one of us to be—" Suddenly, John realized that he was about to say something very revealing around his niece and nephew—something that would give them a power.  He was about to say Lord Voldemort wanted everyone to be nice to Jessica and Casey, and if they knew this, they had free rein over John, Maria, and everyone else, even if only for a little bit.  And John couldn't have that; he couldn't have that at all.  He just grabbed Maria and Harriet and pulled them away._

            Jessica and Casey gave each other a curious look.

            _What do you think of that?_  Jessica asked.

            Casey thought over it before saying, _I don't know, but it's got to be something important._

*          *          *

            "Master, let me do more," Molby pleaded.  "Or at least clean it."

            Severus looked away from his reflection in the window.  The house elf was giving him a beseeching look.

            "No, Molby," Severus said softly.  "I just needed it to stop bleeding.  She will get suspicious otherwise.  I do not have my wand, so that leaves a house elf.  I believe that she may already be suspicious of you as well.  I do not want her to hurt you."

            "I always be here for _you_, Master, no matter what she do to me," Molby said quickly.

            "I'm not worried about myself, Molby.  I am afraid of what she will do _to you.  There are advantages to keeping me alive and looking relatively well, though she can get away with the pain.  I know the types of pain she can cause, Molby, and I know that she thoroughly enjoys it.  She likes causing pain.  Now, imagine that, Molby, with someone that she doesn't need to keep in relatively good shape."_

            Molby looked thoughtful at this.  "You right, Master," she finally said.  "As always."

            Severus glanced back at his reflection in the window and touched the wound near the back side of his head, right next to his ear.  "I'm not always right, Molby.  Not always."

*          *          *

            Jessica and Casey assumed their submissive position.  Their father stood behind them however, and this time it was Tom Marvolo Riddle that laughed silently at the children as he stood confidently in front of them.  They were in one of the many sitting rooms at the Malfoy mansion.  Save their father and Riddle, the kids were alone.

            "Jessica and Casey, today is a very important day," Riddle said, and they could hear the smile in his voice.  "Today is the day I unveil you."

            When neither child reacted, Riddle didn't berate them.  He just turned to their father, "Jeffery, let me have a moment alone with them."

            They heard their father walk out.  They didn't even know Riddle moved until he lifted Jessica's chin with his thumb and forefinger.  When Jessica looked up, she realized he had bent over so that his face was only an inch from her face, his dark eyes staring directly into hers.

            "Jessica, dear," Tom said, pausing a moment before giving her a calm smile.  "There is no need to be scared…or angry," he added after another pause.  He then used his other hand to lightly stroke her hair.  Even though she wanted to jerk away in disgust, she didn't.  "This is a great opportunity for you and your brother.  I know it's a heavy burden you both carry.  I want to help you.  I want to take some of that burden from you…"

            Jessica just smiled at him as her eyes darkened even more.  "You're slimy, and you sicken me."

            She stumbled backward when he backhanded her.  Before Casey could even move, she was screaming in his head, _Don't move!_  She could see his back give a slight spasm as though his plans had been to do just so, but he obeyed her.

            Jessica went back into her submissive position.  There were times when she couldn't handle it, times when she couldn't speak the crap everyone wanted to hear, times when she dealt honestly with her Godfather – the incident seconds ago having been one of them – but she knew there was a line she never must cross.  Jessica didn't want to be on this side, but as far as she could see, there was only one person she would trust fully in this world to handle her father and godfather right, and that was the 10-year old standing next to her.  When she was younger, before her mom died, she had entertained thoughts of going to see Uncle Danny about what was occurring with Dad and Tom, but that had stopped when her father showed her how slow a death could be…

Jessica had already killed her mother with just a foolish notion.  She would not be that stupid again.

            When Tom didn't say anything for a long time, Jessica looked up to find him staring at her.  Jessica couldn't get over the feeling that he knew what she was thinking.

            But she left that thought for now because this talk Tom was having with them was far from over.

*          *          *

            Severus followed slowly behind his mother and Salazar.  There were times he was somewhat glad he met Jessica, and there were times he wasn't.

            These were one of those times he wasn't.

            After hearing about his acquaintance with the girl, his mother decided to bring him to one of the Dark Lord's gatherings at Ignatius Malfoy's home.  She had brought him to one before but decided not to again when he was called weird and broody.

            "Rebella!"  Belisma Black yelled.  More liked yelped, Severus thought with an unseen smile.  The mother of Narcissa, she was as beautiful as her name denoted her to be, a river goddess.  Why sleep with Rebella Snape, Severus wondered to himself, if you could have this one?  On second thought, the Dark Lord probably did have this one as well.

            "You won't believe this," Belisma whispered conspiratorially, seemingly unconscious of the fact that Severus and Salazar were there.  "Jeffery Ziners brought his children.  The Dark Lord wants to demonstrate their power."  Belisma was breathing excitedly.

            Severus was still disgusted with Jessica.  His mother had told him that Jessica and Casey possessed this mysterious power.  They were only too happy to stand at the Dark Lord's side, Rebella had said, and help him go after the only wizard that stood in the Dark Lord's way of greatness: Albus Dumbledore.

            Severus wanted to be happy for the Dark Lord, but he couldn't muster it.  He didn't know why, but he couldn't.  All he knew was that he didn't want to see Jessica.  He thought Jessica was going to be different from all the rest of them…but she wasn't.  She was just like the rest, wanting to please the Dark Lord…wanting to follow him.  And even though Severus had plans to join Lord Voldemort if he could, for some reason he didn't want Jessica to.  There was something different about her…something good...something wicked but something different and better than following Voldemort.  Severus didn't know why he thought that.  He just knew that every time he looked in her eyes, he saw someone different…he saw someone other than the person she portrayed, than the Slytherin she was…but he must have been wrong.

            After everyone was called to the table and sat in their places, including Jeffery Ziners, Ignatius called for silence.  Presently, Severus sat in the middle of the table, his mother on one side and Salazar on the other.  Across him sat the Crabbes.  There were various families up and down the table, not the least of which was seated near the head of the table.  Ignatius Malfoy sat to one side, Lucius next to him.  Across Ignatius sat Jeffery Ziners, a man Severus had only met once before.  The businessman had dismissed him quickly in order to request something from his mother.  Presently, the man was smirking up at Ignatius as the man called order.  The seat at the head of the table and the two seats flanking it were empty.  And then suddenly the door behind the table burst open and in walked a grinning Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr.  Behind him, a sick looking Jessica followed.  She had been holding her cheek but when she entered the room, she removed the hand and gave the crowd a determined look.  A young boy followed Jessica.  Upon first look, Severus thought the boy looked ready to do battle with anyone who dared, but then he bent his head with a look from his father.  But, unless Severus was seeing things, he thought that the boy was inspecting everyone still over the tops of his glasses.

            Everyone in the room stood up.  Severus nearly forgot to follow but did so quickly enough that no one noticed.  Tom smiled at everyone and guided the two children to sit in the empty seats beside the head of the table.  Jessica took the one next to Ignatius and the boy the one next to Jeffery, but neither sat right away, looking at Tom for their instructions to do so.

            "Good day to everyone," Tom said loudly, still smiling and everyone along with him.  There were three weak smiles at the table but no one seemed to notice.  "And today is a happy day.  I will now unveil my two weapons," Tom smiled at the two children.  Jessica was the only one to meet his eyes, and Severus wished he could see what her eyes looked like at that time.  Whatever they looked like, it seemed to give Tom a slight pause, one he recovered quickly from, but one that caused him to keep an extra sense on Jessica.

            "At this time, I would like the eldest weapon and most powerful to give a demonstration.  Before she does, I would like everyone to know that while these children's powers _are strong, their powers are unpredictable at times, and they have a problem controlling them.  Do not be alarmed; I have control over the children and their power."  For some reason, Severus had to wonder if this was a warning or an attempt to keep him the superior power in the eyes of his followers.  This thought surprised Severus, as he didn't ever remember out rightly questioning the Dark Lord before._

            "Everyone, sit," Tom commanded.  Everyone but Tom and Jessica sat.  She barely reached Tom's elbow but for some reason, Severus had doubts that this made either doubt themselves or the other.

            "Now, most of you know that 11-year olds cannot do a Cruciatus Curse.  Jessica will now demonstrate that this is not true."  There was a long pause and most expected it was born out of nerves in performing in front of people and/or for the Dark Lord.  But Severus guessed it was for another reason and his keen observation proved him right.  Tom was holding his wand, something not unusual for the Dark Lord, but the wand was pointed, almost absent-mindedly, at Casey.  Jeffery Ziners had chosen that exact instant to put a firm hand on Casey's shoulder, as though in a fatherly gesture judging from Jeffery's smile, but Casey's body had given a slight tensing a moment before, tensing that seemed to grow a little when his father put a staying hand on his shoulder.  It was a unique thought that popped into Severus's head at that moment, one that he really hadn't considered before.  They were outright willing to defy the Dark Lord.  At 11 and 10 years old, they had decided not to follow in their family footsteps and into the Dark Lord's collection of followers.  The next thought that Severus had was the first since the train station before Christmas break to be reminiscent of his age: You could do that?

            "On who, Sir?"  Jessica's voice was low and calculating.  She never once looked from that hand on Casey's shoulder.

            Tom backed away.  "Anyone you wish," he said, then added, "Except me of course."  Everyone at the table gave a nervous chuckle.  Jessica, before turning to the table, looked at the Dark Lord, and though he had only known her such a short time, Severus would bet his inheritance that the look she threw him was 'You said that _just_ in time.'

            Jessica looked the table up and down the rows several times, but her gaze paused on Severus only just once.  It was more of an acknowledgement of his presence than a prospective victim glance.  Suddenly, her gaze shot to her brother's.  There was a pause where Jeffery's hand squeezed tight enough to make Casey wince in pain.  But Jessica seemed to have gotten what she needed.  She turned to look at…

            Lucius Malfoy.  She backed a step away and said, "Unless you want some fun, Mr. Malfoy, get away from your son."  It was a comment that earned a fast moving Ignatius but a scream from Lucius' mum.  Lucius, on the other hand, looked like he didn't believe that this was happening to _him_ of all people.

            "Crucio!"  She yelled.  It was a word that not only shot the worse pain from Hell into Lucius's small body but also shot him back into the Goyles then Snapes, sending some members of the first family flying from their chairs (which was no easy feat) but the second family just _really close, an almost equally bad predicament.  When Severus was next looking at Jessica, without the obstacle of the Goyles, he could see her clearly and what he saw frightened him.  There was an 11-year old girl, her eyes blacker than the night, leaned over, hands steady, wand aimed straight at Lucius Malfoy, who was sprawled on the floor, shaking in pain, while Lord Voldemort stood eating a biscuit, watching._

            Severus looked at Casey, and, instead of watching in awe or in smiles like everyone else, his head was bent, his eyes closed tightly.  Suddenly, Lucius's tortured screams stopped.  Severus looked back at Jessica to see her head bent, her eyes closed as well, but she seemed as though she were in pain.

            "Excellent," the Dark Lord said as though he just watched a student recite the correct way to make a Polyjuice Potion.  He walked back up to the table and started to speak before he glared at Lucius on the ground.  "Get up, dear boy.  It's not like she killed you."  As Ignatius worked with his son, Severus looked at Jessica.  She was already back up at the table, standing erect, head high as though she were waiting for her next orders like a good soldier.  Severus actually found himself being disgusted with her.

            When Lucius was up again, he started limping back to his seat, but Tom held up a hand to halt them.  Without looking at them, he said, "Go trade seats with the Snapes, all of you," he spoke to Ignatius, Lucius, and Alodie.  They looked at the Dark Lord in startlement.  Tom glared at them and they quickly did as bid.  Rebella took this invitation with much enthusiasm, Salazar with a dignified smirk, but Severus took it with a slow pace.  Upon reaching the seats on Jessica's side, Rebella paused a second before rushing around to take Alodie Malfoy's empty spot that placed herself next to the widowed Jeffery Ziners.  When Severus lagged, Salazar went to sit next to Jessica, but the Dark Lord's voice halted him.

            "No, not you.  Severus," Voldemort smiled sinisterly at him.  "Sit next to Jessica.  I'm told you are friends."

            Severus slowly sat and as he did so, he noticed Jessica looking at him.  If looks could kill…

            "Salazar told Mum that he saw us together," he said under his breath.  That took the glare off…somewhat.  She still seemed to be stiff towards him.

            After dinner got started, Lord Voldemort smiled at Jessica.  "That was a fine demonstration, my girl."

            She started to respond but stopped when she noticed that her father was giving her a look.  It was then that Severus noticed that both Tom Riddle and Jeffery Ziners had their wands sitting next to their dinner plates.  Jeffery had laid a hand on his when Jessica had looked at him.  "Thanks," Jessica answered meekly.

            They weren't willing weapons, Severus suddenly realized when he took a drink of pumpkin juice, but they were controlled ones.  

            _So this is the Severus Snape you've been talking about?_

            Jessica glanced up to see Casey smirking at her.

            _Try not to act like we're talking_, she growled back at him.

            Casey became interested in his food again.  _Why haven't we seen him at one of these gatherings before?_

_            His mother doesn't like him.  Prefers the brother is my guess._

_            Looks like it_, Casey responded before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

            "Jessica," Rebella said, turning the conversation to her to Jessica's annoyance.  Normally, the conversation stuck to Muggle bashing, gossip, killing Dumbledore, or taking over the world – topics she stayed out of if she valued her health.  She had yet to master direct lying to Riddle, and in responses to these topics during these gatherings, she lied, and it angered Riddle.  He thought she should really possess these feelings (_like any normal wizard or witch_, he would say).  "How are you liking Hogwarts?"  Rebella asked.

            Jessica bit her tongue at the automatic placating response to Riddle.  He told her that she still had yet to master making the responses look real.  And this was a time when she had to recuperate her strength.  She had barely gotten over Dad's punishment only to get a beating just before supper from someone much stronger than Dad.

            "Its fine, Ma'am."  Not a lie at least.

            "How are you getting along with Dumbledore?  Your father told me the Dark Lord's plan of getting you close enough to Dumbledore so the dimwit will have hesitation to kill you when he finds out who you're true master is," Rebella finished off, batting her eyelashes at Riddle.

            Jessica's eyes made brief contact with Casey's.

            _Dad's sleeping with her now??_  Casey asked.  _That's just gross!_

            _I just can't believe he's using us as the line to impress some whore to bed_.

            _It seems that these idiots get turned on by anything Voldemort._

            _It's the power thing, I think_.  Even as Jessica responded to Casey, she glanced at Severus.  He's eyes were on his plate, but he had stopped a second.  She was pretty sure he had caught onto the implication of what was said.

            "I'm getting along with Dumbledore fine.  I need to work on the relationship to get him to trust me though."

            _Snape_, Casey said suddenly, slowly.  _Snape._

            Oh, God, please, no.  Don't let him remember, Jessica prayed silently.

            Suddenly Casey's eyes flashed as he glanced at her.  He looked away quickly, but she realized he knew…

            _Michael Snape.  Severus, he's the oldest, isn't he??_

            Jessica thought it better not to answer.

            _1...2…3…and you're 4._

            Even in her head, she could hear the worry of Casey's voice.  _Technically, I'm 5, she responded with a seemingly bored voice._

            _Ah, shut up_, Casey growled.  _He's 4, he's 4.  I know.  Jessica…_

            _I know, Casey.  I know. _

_Four a year, a line, a wall before the Lord of Darkness and be wary of the fall._

_I do not like that damn line, so do not speak it again._

_But we can't ignore it, Jessica._

Jessica didn't respond and only spared her little brother the briefest of glances during the rest of the meal.

*          *          *

After supper, the parents all went to one room to hold a meeting of the Bloody Idiots, as Jessica called them.  They were formally called the…what was it?  Jessica turned to her brother.

            "What's he calling them now?"  She nodded towards the room that held the parents.

            "Death Eaters."

            This gave Jessica pause.  After staring at her brother in surprise for a minute, she said, "Death Eaters.  Creepy but strangely appropriate."

            Casey nodded.

            The kids were in another room, milling about, bragging about parents and such.  Casey and Jessica got an unintended reprieve.  After today's demonstration, she was officially dubbed as 'freak.'  Not to her face, however.  No one would dare harm a hair on her head after seeing the Dark Lord's "affection" for her.  Casey had to follow suit in her "freakishness" by association only.  Jessica smiled to herself when she thought about how "freakish" he would be considered if they knew that Casey had worked hard enough to be nearly equal to her in power.

            One unfortunate side effect of this new disease, top of the many side effects that she assumed she would regret later, was the fact that her "friend" was scorned too.  Severus didn't remain near the siblings however.  He was in one corner reading.  Casey and Jessica stood down the wall from him.  The rest of the kids occupied the other half of the room.

            Jessica bit back a smile as Crabbe and Goyle walked up to her, followed by Narcissa Black.  

            Crabbe went to hold out a hand to Jessica.  She didn't take it.  He pulled back awkwardly.  "Good job, mate."  He tried to give her a friendly slug on the shoulder.  With quick reflexes, she caught his hand but gently let go of it.  "Don't touch me," she said quietly.

            Crabbe bowed his head a little and backed away a step.

            Goyle came forward.  "Good job from me too," he said without holding a hand up or giving her a slug.  He backed away to step next to Crabbe.  Narcissa came up to her and started to speak but stopped and glared at Crabbe and Goyle.  They ran away under the force of it.  Narcissa turned that glare on Jessica.  Jessica didn't even blink an eyelash.

            Narcissa spoke quietly and harshly, "I know what you're about, Jessica Ziners, and killing Lucius won't get you there."

            "No, it won't," Jessica said calmly.  "But tell him not to push his luck.  I might find killing him fun."

            Narcissa didn't seem to think that that was that funny.

            "But what's this about knowing what I'm about?"  Jessica asked when Narcissa didn't retreat.

            "You want to be the only one the Dark Lord needs, and you'll kill the lot of us to get there."

            "So tread lightly, Narcissa."

            That got her jaw to drop.  Jessica smiled.  Narcissa seemed not to be sure whether Jessica was joking or serious, so she decided it was a good time to retreat.

            When Jessica turned to Casey, his eyes were to a point beyond her.  She turned to see that Severus has abandoned his book and was approaching.  And it was no hello when he came up.

            "Who are you?"  
            "Jessica."

            Severus frowned at her.

            "And this is the brother I told you about, Casey."  She pointed to Casey.  For all intents and purposes, he looked as serious as she did that this was the answer that Severus was seeking.

            "You know what I am asking, so answer me."

            Jessica and Casey looked at each other.  _We can tell him to a certain point_ was Casey's response to her unspoken question.

            _But, as far as we know, he's following Riddle._

_            So?  Riddle knows who we are._

_            But Riddle also knows we don't go blabbing it around.  He'll know that I like Severus enough to trust him.  That's makes Severus a tool._

            _He already knows you and Severus are friends.  It's too late for him.  He might as well know what he's in for, Casey pointed out._

            _But he can't know everything._

            _Right, Casey added unnecessarily._

            Jessica looked around the room.  Even though they were alone on this side, she still decided that they weren't alone enough.  "Let's go walk around the grounds.  I don't know them particularly well—"

            "I do," Severus said, and the three started off.

            If Jessica had looked back, she would have taken notice Lucius Malfoy watched her maliciously.  There was only one thought on his mind as he followed the three with his eyes.

            _One day, she will pay._

            And one day she would.

            Dearly.

*          *          *

            "Jeff!"  Adam Rin yelled.  "Julie!"

            Both kids came jogging down the stairs from their rooms.

            "Yeah, Dad?"  They echoed but Adam engulfed each one in a hug.  The kids laughed

            "Sorry I had to go on the trip.  How was the Fifth Year, my Prefect children?"

            Adam guided his children to the sofa while he took a nearby recliner.

            "It was a headache," Julie complained.

            "Not as much as mine," Jeff said.  "Malfoy thought he ruled the house!"

            Adam sighed.  "A lot like his father I suspect."

            "That wasn't the worse part for Jeff," Julie laughed at her brother, and he rolled his eyes.

            "What?"  Adam asked with an amused smile.

            "Maria Ziners was his Prefect counterpart," Julie grinned evilly.  "She has the hots for him, you know?"

            Adam chuckled as his son tried to bury his face in his hands.  "I hate that girl!"  When both of them laughed at his expense, he turned to Julie, "I didn't tell you the worse of it.  She invited me to her dad's house this summer."

            "John Ziners, the Secretary of Magic in America?"  Julie asked with a smirk when she managed to stifle some giggles.  "You should have gone!"  She went into hysterical laughter now.

            "No, no, no!"  To their grinning father, Jeff said, "You do know what they say about John Ziners in the Slytherin House, right?"

            Adam's grin disappeared at his son's serious note.  "No, I don't."

            "That he knows Voldemort, and he's letting him run loose in America.  He wants him to succeed in his run for power."

            "Gossip, Jeff!  Most everything said about Voldemort is just gossip," she said as she slugged him with a pillow.

            Jeff grabbed the pillow before it hit him.  "Everything outside the Slytherin House.  There are things said in there that would shock even you."  And then he attacked her with tickling.

            Neither noticed the look on their father's face.

*          *          *

            When they were a distance from the house and wandering the lit paths, Jessica began.

            "We will tell you who we are," Jessica said quietly, "but first we have to know where you stand."  
            "With what?"  Severus asked.  It was him, then Jessica, and lastly Casey walking as a threesome down the paths.  Jessica thought Severus was kind of cute like this: hands behind his back, intense look on his face.  As they passed under a lamp, Jessica noticed something though.  His hair looked a little different…no, just part of his hair.  It was right behind his ear…under the next lamp she saw what it was.  Part of his hair was lightly matted with barely noticeable, about a week's old dried blood.  Upon the next light, she saw that part of his ear looked damaged and poorly healed by magic.

            She realized then that she had lingered on her answer too long because Severus stopped and suddenly clamped a hand over the injury.  Both she and Casey stopped along with him.  "I was…attacked…by a…….gnome," Severus said awkwardly.

            She touched part of his hair.  "You must have bled pretty bad," she said quietly.  "You didn't clean your hair properly."  She gave him a lopsided smile.  Then that smile left as quickly as it came.  Her and Severus were looking each other in the eye and there was something there…a picture of Rebella Snape and Salazar flashed through Jessica's mind.  "Or she didn't let you out of the room to clean it," Jessica concluded quietly.  Severus's eyes went from panic to fear as she continued to look at him.  Her fingers brushed against his hand and it was enough contact to make his hand give a slow escape.  Her fingers brushed his ear gently as she looked at it closely.  "But I wonder how this was healed.  Dad usually takes our wands away."  When she looked back at Severus, he was still looking at her, that deer caught in the headlights look in his eyes, his fear immobilizing him.  "You have a friend in the house maybe," she guessed in a whisper.  "We do too, but Father won't let him near us in our rooms.  But we do our best to heal ourselves…with our other magic."  The last was finished off in a whisper, but it was enough to break the spell.  Severus wrenched her hand away from his ear.

            "And to the point.  What is this other magic?"  Severus asked angrily.

            Jessica looked away, almost shocked at herself.  What was she doing?  Why was she doing…whatever she was doing?  She looked at her brother.  He was quietly standing off to the side but one look at his face, and she knew he had been an avider watcher…and noticed the red of embarrassment in her cheeks.  Thankfully, he wasn't smiling.

            Jessica started down the path again, the two boys taking a second before joining her.  "First," Jessica said finally, "do you follow Voldemort?  Do you want to become one of his?"

            Severus took a minute to answer before he gave a quiet, "Yes."

            "Why?"  Jessica turned on him, a little surprised even though she had suspected as much and, for some reason, a little hurt at his admission.  They stopped on the path again.

            This response seemed to get Severus's goat.  "Why?"  He repeated a little loud.  He quieted his voice for his angry response.  "What choice do I have?"

            _What choice do _we_ have? Casey suddenly asked her._

            She turned on him in surprise of the question.  He almost looked just as surprised that he had asked the question.

            He shrugged.  "If you think about it, we really don't."

            She turned back to Severus, whose anger was a little put out by the bewildering scene she knew he saw before himself.

            "Severus, _you _have a choice_."_

            "No, I don't.  I can't make it anywhere else.  I'll be lucky if the Dark Lord even accepts me."

            "He'll accept anyone with knees to fall to before him," Casey said bitterly.

            Jessica didn't even nod at the statement.  "You can't make it anywhere else?"  She asked a little loudly.  "This from the boy who is done with homework by 8, and then rechecks it for the next hour before going to the library with a pass from Rum to read books in the restricted section for his own amusement."

            "When am I going to get it through your head, Ziners?  Stop following me around at school!"

            "Shhhhhhh!"  Casey suddenly said.  

            "I don't follow you around," Jessica said defensively, but to Casey's bliss, quietly.

            "Then how do you know what I'm doing all the time?  First, it was helping Professor Rum, then this."

            "I wander at night," she said quietly.

            "And during the day.  Unfortunately, that's to wander in my vicinity."  Severus knew he said the wrong thing because Jessica did the unthinkable.  Her lower lip jutted out and tears swelled in her eyes.

            Severus looked helplessly at Casey.  He held up his hands.  "You did it, not me."

            "Ah, come on, Ziners," Severus said in his best soothing voice but refused to a lay a hand on her.  "I didn't mean to hurt you."

            "But you meant what you said," she said in a whimper.

            Oh, dear.  Severus reached up an awkward hand and patted her on the shoulder.  "No, I didn't," he lied.  Well, he thought gloomily.  That was a lie too.  He had started thinking of it as fortunate that she walked in his vicinity.  At least he had a friend.  _A friend.  _One_ friend.  Oh, that's pathetic, Severus thought to himself.  _

He was brought out of his thoughts by Jessica's whimper.  She suddenly pressed against him in a hug.  Oh, no.  This was not good.  She was touching him.  Touching him A LOT.

            As she started to blubber on his shoulder, he awkwardly put his arms around her.  "Sorry, so sorry," he said quietly into her ear.  After she gathered herself, she pulled out of his arms then wiped her nose with her robe sleeve.

            "Oh, now that's gross," Severus grumbled and fumbled in one of his inside pockets and found his handkerchief.  It was the one his dad had given him just before Severus left for Hogwarts.  He handed it to Jessica.  "Use something meant for the purpose."

            And of course, she had to wipe her nose on it and blow nice, hard, and long.  Severus was afraid to take it back, but did so with a pinch of his fingers.  He _almost pulled his wand out to clean it but afraid of the tears again, he stuffed it awkwardly into his pocket._

"Now, that we have that done with," Severus said as they started down the path once again, "And now that you know that I plan to join the Dark Lord, what is this…_special magic power you possess?"_

*          *          *

"Marcus!"

            "Dad, the Minister wants to talk to you!"  James yelled from his spot on the sofa.  He had a spells book open and had been reading until the head popped up in the fireplace.

            Marcus jogged down the stairs.  "James, out."

            James gave an exaggerated sigh but left.

            Marcus knelt in front of the fireplace.  "Yes, Minister Rin?"

            "I've just had my son say something rather…interesting to me about Voldemort."

            This took Marcus aback.  "Really?"

            "Yes.  Jeff told me about something that is being said in the Slytherin House at Hogwarts.  Secretary Ziners is knowingly letting Voldemort run around in the States to recruit people for his movement."

            The weight of that statement needn't be said.  No one knew about Marcus's knowledge of the States other than Michael Snape, Amelia Black, Tom Riddle, himself, and Minister Rin.

            "Could have just been coincidental information," Marcus said.

            "I don't think so.  Jeff seemed to believe this very much, and he's a skeptic just like you.  You know what this means?"

            Marcus nodded.

            He actually knew that it meant two things, but he wouldn't mention the other to Minister Rin.

            The first of which: It was looking more and more each day that the American Department of Magic was corrupt.  Of course, Minister Rin didn't know about Daniel's damning evidence either.

            The second of which was the one that Minister Rin didn't realize at all: The key to identifying Voldemort lied in a select group of Hogwarts students that never talked to those they didn't trust.

            Marcus needed to pay Hogwarts another visit.  But, this time, he needed to talk to Professor Gary Rum.

*          *          *

"You know the story of the four Hogwarts founders, right?"  Severus nodded.  "Four of the greatest wizards…blah, blah, blah, and then Salazar leaves and blah, blah, blah.  You know the drill.  Well…"

            "There's a part that wasn't written in _Hogwarts: a History_," Casey cut in, as though he didn't want to be forgotten.

            Severus glanced at him before looking back at Jessica, who was nodding.  "Yes, there was.  There was a fifth witch.  She wasn't as strong as the other four and not as interested in education as she was inbeing an Auror, but she was a good friend of the four founders.  When the split up came and Salazar left in a huff, she was there.  And she was also there when Godric had this idea.  See, he was worried that Salazar might try something…get Hogwarts back or something, take over the minds of the young or take over the magic world or something.  So, Godric decided a measure was needed.  He and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff decided to protect their school from Salazar Slytherin and _any of his descendants.  What they ended up actually doing was protecting the school from each other and each others' descendants."_

            "What did they do?"  Severus asked quietly when Jessica paused.

            Jessica had been looking ahead, but here she became silent, looked at her feet, gave Severus a long glance then looked ahead as they turned another corner.  Finally, she continued, "They made a potion.  It was a potion to protect the school and themselves.  They spent _years making this potion, consulting experts from _everywhere_.  They put pieces of themselves into it.  They even went as far as getting pieces from Salazar, _including his blood_.  He never knew anything was up until it was far too late.  And then came the part of their fifth friend.  They realized in making this potion, in order to enact it, they needed a fourth body, a fourth strength, one that could represent the fourth member, which would in that long gone experience would have been Slytherin.  It had to be someone with intelligence, courage, loyalty, and most of all, determination.  It also had to be someone they could trust.  And this fifth person was someone that they could trust._

            "The potion they ended up brewing…it ended up being that they would need to drink it then it had to be enacted with a curse.  That would be the school's protection.  And then they realized that the founders needed to be protected as well.  Gryffindor, as much as he didn't like Slytherin, said that it was only right that Salazar have protection also."

            When Jessica gave an extremely lengthy pause, Severus prompted her.  "What did they come up with?"

            "As far as protecting themselves, they didn't need to come up with anything.  You see, they went ahead to take a drink of the school protecting potion to test it out before they worked on protecting themselves.  As they were attempting to cast the spell on Hogwarts to see if it worked, something was happening a hundred miles away, something that would make the potion work a lot stronger than it was at first meant to."

To be continued…


	5. Mighty Blood

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 5: Mighty Blood**

Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter world belongs to that of J.K. Rowling.  I'm just taking it for a test drive.  Some characters belong to me, some to J.K. Rowling, so if you don't see them in the Harry Potter series, don't use them without my permission.  Some magic and some plot belong to me to but mostly they're J.K. Rowling's stuff.  Again, what you don't see it in the books, ask me before playing with it.  I'm also not making a cent of money on this.

A note about my Severus Snape:  We all have a journey in life that shapes who we become, and I'm just writing a journey for him.  He may seem a little different from time to time, but I assure you, he will become the snarky professor we know and love, and for those that have a dislike of the Snape, you might actually get to see the person I see.  Also for those that don't like Snape, I love pretty much every single character in the book, so I have enough of everyone.

And three 'thank you''s: First of all, thanks to Sheena for helping me figure out a burning spell.  You'll see this in the scene when Jessica, Casey, and Snape are at the train station.

Second of all, thanks to the Harry Potter Lexicon ().  The supplier of everything Harry Potter.  If it showed up in the books, it's on this website.  If you're a Harry Potter fan fiction writer and you don't know this website, go look at it.

And thirdly, thanks to gotsnapesdarkcoil mailing list for putting up with my occasional question – everything from my little opinion questions to my "do any of you remember…" questions.  You girls are great!  (And funny too)

One quick note – I try to get a chapter out once a month, give or take a week.  With the exception of holidays and the hopefully minimal extenuating circumstance, I should be able to keep up with this.  (I think I have done well so far so I don't foresee this changing too much.)

Notes:  Because of the characters that are going to come up in chapter six, I decided to make a note of which characters I created, and which are those of J.K. Rowling.  In the character list, I'll put (mc) after the ones I created.  I don't take credit for some of the last names of the characters I created so if you see the last name in the Harry Potter series, the last name is not mine but hers.  

Here's the website of the master character list: 

From now on, I will only add new characters to the character list at the beginning of the chapter.  After they've been mentioned once, they will not appear in the beginning chapter lists again but only on the master character list at the previously mentioned web address.  I will update the website every time I publish a new chapter.  (This will not only include adding the new characters, but also updating the character descriptions.)

**_Neutral:_**

**Jim Jones (mc):**  A First Year student.

**Brice Longbottom (mc):**  A First Year student.  He is Frank Longbottom's younger brother.

**Sarah Black (mc):**  A First Year student.  She is Sirius Black's younger sister.

**John Cliken (mc):**  The Head of the Unspeakables for the Ministry of Magic.  

**_Good:_**

**Stephen Medley (mc):**  The current professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.  A former Auror, he is good friends with Marcus Potter.  He attended school a few years after Marcus (Stephen was a Gryffindor as well).  Stephen does occasional work for the Aurors, but his main job is teaching.  He is highly suspicious of the unusually talented Jessica Ziners.

**Gary Rum (mc):**  The current professor of Potions at Hogwarts and head of Slytherin House.  His first year teaching was the first year of Jeffery Ziners, Madeline Ziners, and Tom Riddle.  He doesn't appear to like anyone but still tends to be partial to his own house.  He seems to know the secret of Jessica's unusual power, but the question is how he knows.

**Molly Weasley:**  In my story, she is Jessica Ziners' Godmother.  For those wondering, there is a story there that will be told eventually, just not today.

**_Bad:_**

**Bellatrix Black:**  Narcissa's older sister.  She is a Sixth Year Slytherin.

Have fun………

            "Far away," Jessica continued, "the eldest kids of Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar, which happened to be all girls, were casting a spell of their own.  Although, Celerina Slytherin did not necessarily agree with the handling of the situation with her dad, she did agree that the founders needed protection from each other.  They were the four most powerful wizards in the world at the time.  Celerina didn't want to think of a world where there was only one to keep the power.  There needed to be a balance.

            "The kids had no idea what Godric, Helga, and Rowena were doing.  The parents had no idea what their kids were doing.

            "Now, my uncle suspects it was the connection of the founders with each other, and with their kids, that made the magic flow as strongly as it did that night, bridging the gap between the two locations.  What exactly went on, we can't be entirely certain, just to know that outside factor, the friend that had stepped in as the fourth element to protect the school, the something that made her the odd link in the chain, was key to that spell the kids cast.

            "The only other things we know are the results."

            "What were they?"

"_A place of refuge needs a cloak to hold the horrors out, but it needs keys to control.  One alone will defeat the purpose but four will cause three deaths.  So impartial judge we have and we shall call her blood mighty for power now soars through her veins.  She will be loyal beyond measure and intelligent will be her mind.  Brave shall be her heart, but determination to do her duty will be her forte...and her curse_," Casey recited.  "Our great-great-great-a lot more greats I'm sure-grandfather wrote that soon after it happened," he explained.  
            "To put it in laymen's terms," Jessica said with a fond smile at her brother, "the Mighty Blood and the Protection Cloak for Hogwarts resulted.  The Protection Cloak wasn't fully activated that first night.  With the will of its casters, there is a cloak like spell cast over Hogwarts.  It keeps one of the founders from entering the school unless they are specifically invited in."

            "Successfully making Hogwarts a place of refuge from one of the heirs of Hogwarts if they were trying to become extremely powerful by deadly means," Severus responded.

            "Exactly," Jessica nodded.  "A place of refuge for the good and not a base of operations for the bad.

"But it has to be activated.  To activate it, you need three of the heirs and a Mighty Blood.  Whichever heir is missing is the one not allowed in.

            "A Mighty Blood," Jessica continued, "is the protector of the heirs.  It's always the eldest of the family.  Ever since that fifth link, for some reason, in our family females have always been the eldest children.  Don't know why, but Uncle Danny suspects it has something to do with the fact that the kids who cast the spell for a protector were all the eldest and all females."

            "What makes a Mighty Blood different?"  Severus asked.

            Jessica smiled at him.  She rather liked this inspective look on his face.  It was cute to see him all ready to study and dissect this new information.

            "A Mighty Blood is different in a number of ways.  First is probably the most immediately obvious factor."

            "Your eyes," Severus said, smiling at her.  Jessica felt her heart give an odd flutter.  She looked away embarrassed.

            "Yeah," she nodded.  "The eyes have no special power except that they _really_ change colors with my mood.  Another way we are different is our magic.  While Casey and Uncle Danny don't have changing eyes, they do have a little of the different ability in their magic skill, though not as strong as the heir of the Mighty Blood line, the eldest of the family."

            "What kind of things can you do differently?"  Severus asked, seemingly quieter than before.

"There are some different things.  One is, for example, no wand." Jessica held up her hand and said, "Accio Casey's pocket watch."  The gold item flew out of his pocket but stopped halfway there as it was still attached to a belt loop.  Casey growled at her and mumbled something she was sure she probably didn't want to understand as he stuffed the watch back in his pants pocket.  Jessica chuckled at him before continuing.  "The hand spells only can be mild or lighter spells.  For example, I couldn't call something from the house right now."  Jessica gestured behind her towards the big mansion.  "Another thing a Mighty Blood can do is have a sort of silent communication with blood relatives that come from the Mighty Blood line.  With brothers and sisters, it is clear and distinct.  For example, I can silently speak to Casey in sentences, and he can understand every word I say perfect.  And he can do the same to me."

            Severus glanced between the two.  "That explains a lot of what I've seen tonight."

            "You noticed it?"  Casey asked curiously.

            Severus nodded.  "The first time I noticed was when she was doing the Cruciatus to Lucius, then during supper, then when I walked up to you inside after supper, and lastly, just a few minutes ago when we were talking about…about whether or not I wanted to join Lord Voldemort.

            "What else can a Mighty Blood do?"  Severus looked back at Jessica.

            "Well, when we do have wands or are acting as a normal witch or wizard would, our spells tend to react more strongly."

            "Like your broom," Severus said.

            She nodded.  "Now all this doesn't make us more powerful but stronger.  That's what Uncle Danny said, but I'm not too sure what he meant."

            "What makes you guys any safer than Salazar Slytherin was?"

            "Training I think," Jessica said on a shrug.  "Something about self-control being the key to strength, Uncle Danny says."

            "Do Mighty Bloods do anything else?"

            Jessica nodded.  "Of course.  They protect the heirs.  We have a sworn duty to protect them from each other.  This duty comes with its privileges too.  They can't kill us."

            Severus looked at her quizzically.  "What if they use the Killing Curse?"

            Jessica shook her head.  "Nothing happens.  Now this doesn't mean they can't hurt us, but they can't kill us.  Unfortunately, we can't kill them either."

            Severus smirked.  "If you are suppose to protect them then that is a good thing."

            "Not necessarily, Severus."

            Three gazes shot up and looked into the eyes of Tom Riddle.

            But his gaze was only for one.

            Jessica swallowed.

*          *          *

            Stephen Medley needed some moonstone powder for a relaxing potion he was going to make for himself as he had not been able to fall asleep lately.  And there was only one place close by to get that, Stephen thought on a sigh, and though the last thing he wanted to do today was go see that old croney many floors below, he really needed his sleep.

            Stephen was almost to the Entrance Hall when he saw John Cliken, the Head of the Unspeakables at the Ministry of Magic, walking away from the dungeon doors as if he had just come from there.  John was wearing a smile on his face and seemed to be chuckling as he shook his head.

            "Mr. Cliken?"  Stephen asked tentatively as he finished his way down the staircase.  The Unspeakable turned around.  John was a short, thin man with thinning black hair and had about 12 or 13 years on Stephen's age.  

            "Yes?"  John asked curiously.  He was still smiling.

            Stephen walked up to him and held out a hand, which the man shook.  "Stephen Medley.  I use to work for the Ministry; now I teach here at Hogwarts.  Defense Against the Dark Arts."

            "Oh, yes.  Marcus Potter's mentioned you a few times.  What can I do for you?"

            "Sorry for being straight forward, but what are you doing about Hogwarts?"

            John laughed.  "That's alright.  Every few years, I come ask Professor Rum to work for us at the Ministry.  We like to have the dangerously smart to work as Unspeakables, you know?  We like to have them working on our side, where we can keep an eye on them, you know?"  John chuckled.  "But, every year, Gary turns me down flat."  John glanced up the stairway Stephen had just descended.  Stephen glanced up there but saw no one.  When he looked back to John, the man was smiling.  "But as long as he's working for Albus Dumbledore, he's our man, right?"

            John didn't wait for a response before giving another chuckle and going back towards the door.  He nodded back at Stephen, "Bye, Professor," before leaving.

            Stephen nodded aimlessly at the door before turning to go into the dungeons.  He heard a grunt and groan come from the Potions classroom.  Glancing in the classroom, Stephen found Gary working on a potion.  This made Stephen give a small smile.  It wasn't until he became a teacher that he noticed how much of Gary's time was devoted to making one potion after another.  He did them for his own stores, he did them for Aurors around the globe, he did them for private parties, and Stephen was pretty sure he even did them for a number of Unspeakable agencies around the globe.  Stephen stood a minute in the shadow of the partially open door to observe the man.

            Stephen very well knew of Gary's career.  He had been a Potions teacher at Hogwarts on the side when he first started in this profession.  His main job, which had been his only job for a number of years prior, had been an Auror.  He was known for being a loner and lurker.  Lurkers, Stephen knew from personal experience, were a valuable resource to any government Aurors around the globe.  They fit right in with the low life crowd that dark magic had a tendency to be practiced in.  Even if their fame as an Auror had preceded them, they could still blend in with the very crowd that watched for the danger and knew his face brought that danger.  He could blend in and never be seen.  Gary knew the dark side, and sometimes Stephen wondered if he knew it intimately.  But the man never talked about anything that had happened in his top Auror days.

            It was only three or four years after Gary started teaching at Hogwarts that Dumbledore had joined the staff as the Transfiguration teacher.  That had been Grindelwald's high days and both Gary and Albus had been asked by the Ministry to continue their Auror status during that time.  It was 2 months before Albus Dumbledore had brought Grindelwald down that Gary had been nearly killed by the dark wizard.  He survived the tortuous attack but not completely unscathed.  The injury, Stephen had only learned during his training days and only by Marcus Potter (and only God knew how he got the information) that the injury was an uncontrollable shake when Gary least expected it.  He apparently took a very heavy potion for it, but the Ministry asked him to retire afterwards when he was doing a very light spell and it became very misguided and ended up hurting another Auror.  

            "Are you going to lurk forever in the shadows, Stephen?"  Gary suddenly asked, his back to the door.

            Stephen ignored the question and walked forward.  "I was wondering if you had moonstone, preferably crushed, and if I could have it."

            Gary nodded.  "Yes, I do.  Why do you need it?"

            "I'm going to make a relaxing potion.  I've been having trouble sleeping lately," Stephen said the last part quietly.

            Gary looked over his shoulder at Stephen, and Stephen saw something in his eyes that took him aback.  Concern.  But it was gone as quick as it came.

            "I have some Sleeping Draught," he offered as he turned back to his cauldron.

            "No.  I want to be alert if I'm needed.  I just want something to relax.  Thank you anyway."

            Gary nodded before turning the heat on his cauldron down and turning towards Stephen.  "I have some crushed moonstone in my private stores," he informed as he moved past Stephen and out the door.  Stephen followed him.

            "I ran into John Cliken on the way down here," Stephen said conversationally as he followed Gary through his office.  Gary didn't respond.  "He said he offered you a job with the Unspeakables," Stephen added.

            "And I said no…yet again," the last part was said so quietly Stephen had to strain to hear.

            "Yeah, he said that too."

            When Stephen didn't continue, Gary glanced away from the shelf to him.  "Did you have anything else you felt the need to say to me?"  
            That tone would have made Stephen mad or scared during his school years or his first year teaching, but Stephen realized he was starting to get use to it.  "Why didn't you take the job?  You always complain about being a teacher."

            Gary turned back to the shelf only to immediately reach out to grab a small bottle half filled with a blue powder.  As he handed it to Stephen, he said, "I didn't take the job because I'm still needed here."

            With that, he walked back into his offices.  When Stephen didn't follow, Gary turned and looked at him through the doorway.  "Are you coming?"

            Stephen nodded and followed him out.

*          *          *

            "You must really like Severus to be explaining to him about your power."  His eyes bore into Jessica.  She forced herself to stare back and not be afraid.  She was only able to strongly control the former.

            When she didn't respond, Tom chuckled.  "I have to keep this in mind.  Sneaking up on you renders you speechless."

            "I'm not speechless," she said, finding her courage finally.  "I just chose not to speak."  She motioned for Casey and Severus to follow her back up to the house.  Tom followed them.  It made Jessica nervous that he chose to follow rather than lead.  She didn't like the fact that she couldn't see him.  He was more dangerous that way.

            "Always the last word," he said quietly.

            "Me?"  She glanced back at him with a raise of her eyebrows.  "The last word?  You should check yourself in that area, Riddle."

            He smiled at her but said nothing.  That bothered her, and she knew that he knew that it did.

            She turned her face forward and finished her walk to the house.  It wasn't until they entered the house and were back with the other kids that Tom finally left them.  He walked back into the room with the adults.  They were all sitting and talking about the upcoming plans for the Death Eaters.

            "Master," Alodie Malfoy said, quickly getting to her knees and kissing the edge of his robe.

            "Up," Tom said impatiently.  She came up.

            "Did you find the children?"  Rebella Snape asked.

            He nodded as he looked over to her.  She was giving him a provocative look, one his body gave a little response to.  She wasn't pretty by any means, but she was always an easy one.  And she wasn't too bad either.  Just close your eyes and imagine someone else.

            "Rebella, I want you to bring your son to every one of these gatherings from now on," after a pause, Tom clarified, "Not that nitwit Salazar…the older one, Severus."

            She bowed her head.  "Yes, Master."

            Tom turned to Jeffery.  He was giving his master a very curious look.  "I think I have found an answer to our problems."  Tom didn't need to say more.  Jeffery knew that they needed to get Jessica and Casey more compliant with their cause.  Using Jeffery's wayward children against each other could and had in the past only worked to a point.  They needed to attach them emotionally to someone that Tom may be able to pull into his fold, someone that would follow Tom into the darkness.  He believed that Severus Snape could be that link.

*          *          *

            "I'm so glad you guys could make it here, even if it's only for an hour," Lily said once they were up in her room.  "Why were you guys in England to began with?"  Lily looked Jessica straight in the eye.  Her friend had been…somewhat shifty since arriving at their house.

            "Dad was…visiting a friend," Jessica answered quietly.

            Lily eyed her friend carefully.  She seemed drained and tired.  

            "Is everything alright, Jessica?"

            Jessica glanced away.  "Yeah, it's okay.  I'm just tired."

            Lily sighed but decided not to push it.  "Have you gotten your work done yet?"  Lily plopped on her bed with a smile.  

            Jessica just nodded as she sat down on the bed next to Lily.  "Sorry I haven't written you a lot this summer.  I've been busy," Jessica said quietly.

            Lily nodded, trying not to let Jessica know that she was worried.  "I understand.  Thank you for the birthday present by the way."

            Jessica nodded.  "Yeah, I got your note.  I thought since you wanted to try out to be the Seeker that you might like _Quidditch Through the Ages_."

            Lily nodded.  "I'm almost done reading it."

            Jessica laughed and gave her friend a playful shove in the shoulder.  "With you, I should've expected."  

"Argh!"  Casey said as he tripped into Lily's room, still holding onto the doorknob.  His grip on that was the only thing keeping him from falling flat on his face.  Casey growled back out the door.  "You're a brat, Petunia Evans!  That's all you are!"  
            Casey shut the door and looked at Lily.  "What is her problem, anyway?  She's always tripping me when I come.  Then," Casey said dramatically as he plopped on to Lily's desk chair, "she pretends like she did nothing wrong."

"She doesn't try to bother to hide it with me," Jessica said.

Lily sighed.  "I don't know.  She's gotten worse since I went to Hogwarts though."

There were sighs from the other two.

"Are you nervous for starting school?"  Lily suddenly asked Casey.

Casey shrugged.  "Not really, I guess."

            "I was terrified myself," Lily said.  She couldn't get Casey to even look at her that time either.  He seemed as withdrawn as Jessica did.

            When they lapsed into silence again, Lily remembered something.  "Oh, your birthday presents!"  Lily jumped up then ducked to look underneath her bed.  Both Jessica's and Casey's birthdays were, ironically, on the same day: August 6.  When Jessica had owled that they would come over a week after their birthdays, Lily decided to wait to give them their presents then.

            "For you," Lily handed Jessica a package wrapped in brown wrapping.  "And for you," Lily handed Casey another brown wrapped package.

            Jessica opened her present to reveal a Broom Servicing Kit.  "I thought you'd like that for your broom especially since I know you'll become Slytherin's new Seeker," Lily smiled.

            "You have more confidence than I do," Jessica chuckled.

            Casey ripped off the wrapping to reveal a large, leather bound book titled _The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Arts_.

            "It's the newest version," Lily said quickly.  "Knowing you, you probably have all the other versions."

            Casey laughed.  "I do actually.  I was just going to buy the new version when we go to Diagon Alley to pick up our supplies," Casey said, grinning silly as he started paging through the text.  "Now I don't have to."

            Lily smiled as she sat and looked back to Jessica to see her glancing through the products of her servicing kit.  Suddenly, her friend looked up and smiled at Lily.  "Thanks, Lil.  I needed a new one of these."

            "Oh, yeah," Casey said, looking up quickly.  "Thanks, Lil."  He looked back at the text but asked as he did so, "Did you like the Broom Servicing Kit I got you for your birthday?"

            Lily smiled.  "Yeah.  It actually gave me the perfect idea for Jessica's present."  Jessica laughed.

            "Oh, yeah, speaking of Diagon," Casey said, his eyes making the great effort to look away from the book again.  "Dad said he's going to drop us off at the entrances because he's got to…he's got that one meeting with that…friend of his…you know, that one guy from a week ago?"

            Jessica nodded.

            "Anyway, he said that Molly wanted us to visit us again, but Dad needs us back in the States before the start of school.  He agreed to let Molly have us for a night.  She'll pick us up at 1 p.m. from Diagon, the Ice Cream Parlor like usual."

            Casey looked back at his book intently, and, if Lily didn't know better, it seemed it was to avoid looking at her rather than reading his book.  Lily had always kind of wondered about the changes she had seen in Casey.  He would go from happy and light-hearted one second to nervous and scared the next.  Lily looked between the brother and sister and noticed that both seemed pale and worn-out.  Again, she recalled to herself those times Jessica had shown up with injuries that she had pushed off as getting hurt at the ranch.  Lily use to believe that because Jessica was always something of a daredevil, but it was the fact every time she answered Lily as to what she did, Jessica would look away.  Jessica always looked people in the eye when she spoke, except when she was lying.

            And, again, Lily recalled the rumors she had heard about Jeffery Ziners.  He was a powerful man in the magic world and though his business never seemed to be illegal, people wondered about him.  And then there were the rumors that he was following this Voldemort character that was slowly appearing from the darkness, seemingly with a mission that the ministry was sure was not a good one.  Jeffery Ziners, some had said, had had a weird fascination with the dark arts in school.  He had been Slytherin and had always had this greed for power and money.  And then James Potter had made a quiet comment under his breath that one night in the common room, one that had started a thought that had festered insistently in Lily's brain since then.

The comment had followed a particularly cruel defeat of the Gryffindors by the Slytherins.  Many had spent the night in the common room ragging on the Slytherins, Quidditch and non-Quidditch players alike.  Lily had been barely able to shut her mouth when the topic had turned to Jessica Ziners.  She had decided to stop trying to do her homework in the Common Room and had been on her way upstairs, when she passed by James.  He didn't seem to see her, and he didn't seem to think anyone had heard him when he muttered: _"Maybe if your father curses you for fun, you would be a little angry with everyone else."_  Lily had to force herself to continue to the dorm.

Lily looked between Jessica and Casey again only to see that both were absorbed 

in their presents.  She looked at their weariness and recalled how down both had seemed since arriving.  That's when Lily decided she could keep quiet no longer.

*          *          *

            "Three miniscule drops…" Gary murmured as he held a vial close to his face.  Steam rose instantly.  He poured the vial into the cauldron.

            "You can now speak, Mr. Potter," Gary said as he turned back to the teacher's desk.

            The man leaning casually against the doorframe laughed.  "I figured that you saw me."

            Gary didn't acknowledge him.

            "I was wondering if I could discuss Slytherin with you, Professor," Marcus said quietly.

            "Salazar or the house I currently reside over?"  Gary grabbed some dittany and started cutting it up.

            "The house," Marcus said as he finally strode in the room.  He took a seat two tables from the front where Gary was working.  "You know pretty well what goes on in there."

            "No," Gary said distractedly, "I do not."

            Of all the answers Marcus had been expecting, that wasn't one of them.  "You sort of blew that up on me there, Professor."

            "I did not mean to, Mr. Potter.  Ask your question anyhow.  I may surprise you."

            "How much do they know about Voldemort?"  
            "More than you I am sure."

            "Why won't they say anything?"

            "The code of the house."

            This made Marcus give a confused pause before he asked, "The code of the house?"  
            Gary nodded.  "Yes.  What happens in Slytherin stays in Slytherin.  You do not show anyone else your weakness if you do not talk about what happens with yourself; likewise, you do not show a weakness of the house if you do not talk about what happens within it."

            "Why would this keep one from talking about Voldemort?"

            "Because the code also applies to your family.  You do not talk about a disagreement, though that rarely happens.  Disagreeing with your parents can be a very dangerous thing.

"Anyway, if both your parents or one of them, as the case may happen to be from time to time, follow Voldemort, you do to."  When Marcus remained quiet for a long time, Gary stopped what he was doing and looked at Marcus.  "My answer does not satisfy you?"  
            "No, because it doesn't sound like a Slytherin."

            Gary walked over and leaned against his desk, crossing his arms.  "I am sure, Mr. Potter, that there are a great many things that would surprise you about Slytherin, but I will explain only this one.  You follow your family no matter.  You do as they do.  You have no choice in the matter."

            "Yes, you do," Marcus protested.

            "No, you do not.  Your parents raise you that way.  The only people you generally associate with when you are younger are others like you.  You learn no different until you are 11-years old and start attending school, but, by then, you know only one way, and you firmly believe what you were taught growing up.  Your way is the right way."  Gary looked down for a minute before uncrossing his arms and straightening.  As he walked back to his potion, he said, "There is only one boy I have run across in my entire teaching career that has not been influenced by such a family creed."

            "Who was that?"  Marcus asked, mildly curious.

            "That insolent little boy that works for you now."

            "Tom?"  Gary nodded.  "Insolent?  I thought he was suppose to have been one of the best students that ever attended Hogwarts, second only to Albus Dumbledore."

            "Just my opinion.  Take it or leave it.  I do not care."

            Marcus slowly nodded as he stood up.  "Well, I guess I found what I came to look for."

            Gary watched Marcus walk to the door before he said anything.  "You have found the box that holds all the secrets you want to know."

            "But I have no idea how to get into it."

            "Precisely."

            Marcus looked at the old man for a long moment before he gave him a knowing smile.  Growing up, he had highly disliked this professor.  He never thought it was going to ever happen, but Marcus thought he might just have understood him.  "Thanks for your time, Professor."

            Gary had already gone back to his potion.  Marcus chuckled and left.

*          *          *

            "Hey, Dad," James said, walking in from playing over at the Black's house.

            "Hm?"  Marcus asked over the memo that the Ministry had just sent out.

            "Can Sirius and another friend spend the night tomorrow, and then can they come with us to Diagon the next day?"

            Marcus nodded.  "Sure."

            "What's that?"  James asked as he pulled off his muddy cloak.

            "Oh, it's…" Suddenly Marcus' attention was caught by a barn owl aiming towards the open window of their house.  James stepped out of the way to let the owl fly over Marcus and drop a letter into Marcus' stunned hands.

            The bird perched on the statue of Godric Gryffindor by the entrance to the Sitting Room.  "What's that, Dad?"  James asked as Marcus opened the envelope.

            "I don't know," he murmured as he unfolded the letter.  It was neatly scrolled in a female's handwriting:

            Mr. Potter,

                Hello, Mr. Potter.  My name is Lily Evans.  I attend school with your son, James.  I have a problem.  The reason I am writing you is because I am told you have a high position at the Ministry and you know the Ziners'.  I don't know who else to turn do.

                I am good friends with Jessica Ziners.  I know her, her brother, and her father.  Lately, I have had some concerns about what may be happening to Jessica and Casey at their home.  I think that their father might be hurting them.  Jessica sometimes shows up with unusual injuries, but she blames them on being daring at home.  I think she is lying to me.  (She looks away when she lies to me, and she looks away when she tells me she got hurt at home at the ranch.)  Today, her and her brother showed up at my house for a visit.  Both were acting extremely depressed and were fidgeting a lot.  They also looked very sick.  I know that this is not a lot of evidence, but I had to say something.  I could never forgive myself otherwise.

                I don't know if you can do anything.  Since you are an Auror and Jessica's uncle is one too, maybe you could talk to him.  I don't know.  Maybe you know whom I should write to.

                Please, don't tell anyone that I told you.  I just want to protect Jessica.

                I told my owl to wait for your response.

                                                                Respectfully Yours,

                                                                Lily Evans

            "What is it, Dad?"  James asked, reminding Marcus that his son was still in the room.

            Marcus started into the other room, beckoning the bird to follow.  "Nothing, James," Marcus finally called back.

*          *          *

            Lily was surprised when her bird returned that night.  She opened the envelope quickly.

            _Miss Evans,_

_                        I received your note.  I wanted to assure you I am looking into this matter.  I hate to say it, but these matters are very tricky.  Things have to be proceeded about just right in order to ensure the safety of Jessica and Casey.  You may trust that I am doing everything I can in order to make sure your two friends have a safe home._

_            Thank you very much for your note, and please keep me informed if you _

_notice__ anything else._

_                                                                                                Sincerely,_

_                                                                                                Marcus Potter_

            Lily sighed and looked out at the starry night, praying that something wouldn't happen to Jessica and Casey in the meantime.

*          *          *

            "He's probably down in the dungeons," Gary heard as the dungeon doors opened.

            "Isn't he always?"  The other asked.

            "What are you children doing?"  Minerva McGonagall suddenly enquired sharply.

            "Sorry, Professor McGonagall," Jessica Ziners said.  "My father told my brother and myself to meet him up here.  We thought we would visit Professor Rum while we wait."

            A pause, "Okay.  Fine then."

            "Bye, Professor," Gary heard Jessica then both started into the dungeons again.  Gary smiled as he stood in his private stores.  Hopefully that interaction, however brief, would start to get to Minerva on proving that Miss Ziners was not all that bad.  Goodness knows that Gary hadn't been getting anywhere himself.

            "Not in here," Jessica said.  There was a knock then on his office door.

            "Come in!"  Gary called.  When he heard the door creak open, he added, "I'm in the private stores!"

            "Wicked," Gary heard a second later.  He glanced over his shoulder to see Casey glancing around the room…or, should he say, more specifically glancing at the Auror tools that Gary still kept in here?

            "Whatcha stocking?"  Jessica asked, coming over to look at the jars he had just placed on the shelf, but she answered her own question as she looked at the different jars.  "Jobberknoll feathers…they're for truth serum and memory potions…Alihotsy leaves…causes hysteria…wormwood…and asphodel," she pointed to the very next jar as she said, "both ingredients of the Draught of the Living Death…lovage, scurvy-grass, and sneezewort," she said, pointing to the last three ingredients in quick succession.  "All ingredients in Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts."  She looked back up at him.

            "Very good, Miss Ziners.  But I can't give you any house points as school's not in session."  He meant it as a joke but regretted it when she looked away.

            "I wasn't looking for points, Sir," she murmured.

            "Hey, Jess, look!  A Foe Glass," Casey said suddenly.  Both kids examined it closely.  "Just like Uncle Danny's Foe Glass," Jess said, and then suddenly looked at Gary.  "Don't tell anyone we've seen Uncle Danny's Foe Glass.  It's hidden in a false wall of his apartment.  He doesn't know we found the wall."

            Gary smiled lightly and shook his head.  "You two and your sneaking around."

            Gary looked at them as they continued looking at the Foe Glass then moved on to the Sneakoscope.  "Jessica," he said quietly, "that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you."

            She glanced at him a second before going back to the Sneakoscope.  "Yeah?"

            "This last school year, when you sneaked out of the House at night, what were you doing?"

            Jessica stilled but didn't look at him.

            "One night, I saw you…and you appeared to be in search of something, asking many of the portraits questions," Gary added quietly.

            Jessica didn't answer that time, and Gary found out a second later why when Casey looked at her.  They were talking in their minds.  Suddenly, Casey shrugged, and then gave a half-hearted nod.

            Jessica looked at Gary.  She couldn't hold his gaze and looked away.  "There is a lot of stuff we don't know about the Mighty Bloods.  One of the things we know for sure though is that there is a portrait of an old relative that has the answers to many of the questions, including the reverse cloak spell."   

In that sentence, Gary knew something that shocked him.  He didn't think Jessica had meant to tell him this, but he suddenly knew it nonetheless.

The magical cloak that the heirs had invented to protect Hogwarts should the need arise…had been activated…which meant that either Jessica or her mother had perceived a deadly threat by an heir of Hogwarts…

Gary took a deep, almost shaky breath.

Lord Voldemort.  Was he an heir?

They cannot reveal their names, Gary remembered reading.  The Mighty Bloods cannot reveal the names of the heirs for it is part of protecting them, even if the heirs don't deserve this protection.  It isn't until the heirs reveal themselves to the world and open themselves to attack that they could be hurt.  He thought that Jessica wasn't speaking about Voldemort's identity because of fear.  But maybe there was another reason…

Gary glanced at Casey.  But why wasn't the boy speaking?  Fear?

Whatever it truly was, Gary knew that why ever the boy kept quiet, it was for a good reason.  He just wished that it was a reason that would eventually become invalid…before Lord Voldemort started whatever it was he had planned…

But, before Gary went back to the kids, the memory of a bloody wall and a dead girl floated through his head…and the memory of a chamber…but all Gary was left to do was wonder…

*          *          *

            "Supper's about ready, boys, so get ready to come in," Brittany Potter yelled out the back door.  James, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were in the backyard playing with a Quaffle on their brooms.

            "Okay, Mum!"  James called after making a particularly daring capture.  Brittany gave him a disapproving look, to which he smiled.  She shook her head with a small grin before going back into the house.

            The three boys landed then dismounted their brooms.

            "The Gryffindor Quidditch team is going to be short a Seeker when school starts again," Sirius said.  "You gonna try out, James?"

            James nodded.

            "Lily Evans is thinking about trying out for Seeker too," Remus said quietly, causing his friends to halt and looked questioningly at him.

            "What?"  James was the first to speak.

            "Lily Evans was talking about maybe trying out for Seeker too," Remus repeated.

            Sirius suddenly snickered.  It quickly turned to outright laughter.  "James…" he sniggered, "James…is going to compete against his…" Sirius gave a good, hearty laughter, "his girlfriend!"  He finally finished.

            James whacked Sirius across the chest.  "She is not my girlfriend.  I was asked to watch out for her."

            Suddenly James realized what he said.  He took off towards the house again, but Sirius and Remus caught up with him easily.  Both boys grabbed his shirtsleeves, successfully causing him to stop.

            "What?"  Sirius asked.  "Who asked you to do that?"

            "Just a friend of hers," James said after a second's hesitation.  "When she found out about Lily having magical powers, she asked me to keep an eye on her while she attended Hogwarts."

            Satisfied with that answer, the two gave up and the boys started towards the house again.

            "The Slytherin team is going to be short a Beater and a Seeker as well," Sirius revealed.  "Who do you think is going to try out for those positions?"  
            "Malfoy," James said with disgust.

            Sirius and Remus both nodded.

            "And Ziners," Sirius said, an equal amount of disgust in his voice.

            James rolled his eyes at Sirius.  "Lay off her a bit, will yeah?"  He said.

            Remus gave James a surprised look.  "What happened to 'all Slytherins are bad blokes'?" the shy 12-year old asked.  

            Sirius threw James a pitiful look before looking at Remus.  "Didn't you hear Remus?  James is soft for the little maggot."

            "She is not a maggot, and all we are is…kind of friends."

            "Oh, yeah, I know," Sirius dismissed with a dismissive gesture of his hand and a roll of his eyes.  "Her uncle and your dad know each other and you and her got to play as little kids.  You tell me a thousand times.  But she still is what she is."

            James shook his head.  "She is not as bad as the rest of them.  Just had some bad luck with who her dad is.  Sometimes we can't help with that kind of bad luck in life."  Neither noticed that their brown-haired companion turned a little red and looked away.

            "Oh, come on, James!"  Sirius said as they entered the kitchen to wash their hands.  "Her dad's a bad bloke, and that's what she is too. You know all those Slytherins do is follow their parents."

            "Sometimes that's the case, and sometimes that's not.  You'd be surprised who grows up and ends up following a darker path, Sirius."

            All three boys turned in surprise to see Marcus Potter leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, his arms crossed.

            "Hi, Dad."

            "Hi, Mr. Potter," Sirius said, seemingly a little ashamed.

            "Hi, Mr. Potter.  My name is Remus Lupin."

            Marcus gave Remus a kind smile.  "Hello, Remus.  Glad you could join us this evening."

            Remus returned the smile before quickly returning to washing his hands.

            "Who were you specifically talking about?"  Marcus asked as he followed the boys to the smaller dining room.

            "Jessica Ziners," James informed him.

            "But you always fight with her, James," Remus said.  "Why do you fight with her if you're friends?"

            "Because we don't actually get along all the time.  She's a Slytherin and thinks like one," James answered him as he took his place next to Sirius.  Remus sat across from them, with Marcus and Brittany sitting at the ends.  All five started into the food.

            Marcus snorted at the comment.

            "She does too," James pointed out with a look at his father.

            "James!"  Brittany said.  "She does not."  His mother was trying not to smile at the adamant look on James' face.

            "Ah, come on!"  James said.  "She cheats at Quidditch all the time!"  
            "She does not!"  Marcus said on a snort of laughter.

            "Does too," James said, but before more could be said, Sirius spoke up.

            "She uses that word," he pointed out.

            "What word?"  Marcus asked.

            "Pardon my language," Sirius said.  "Mudblood."

            "She does not!"  Brittany said, shocked.  She looked at James for a confirmation, which he grudgingly gave.  Brittany looked across the table at Marcus.

            "Don't look at me like that," Marcus complained.  "Both sides of her family are pure bloods.  You don't expect her _not_ to know the word."

            "Doesn't excuse her using it," Sirius said.  "Both sides of my family are pure blood, as well as yours too, Mr. _and_ Mrs. Potter.  I've never called someone that before in my life, and I don't recall anyone here saying it either."

            "Well you didn't grow up around a father that probably uses it more than he should," Marcus said in a quiet voice.

            "See," Sirius turned to James.  "She's already starting to follow in his footsteps."

            Both Marcus' and James' heads banged backwards until they were looking up at the ceiling.  Both males groaned causing Brittany to laugh at the twin imagery.

            "Doesn't mean anything," James said.

            "Just because she picks up on things she hears, doesn't mean that she will follow in anyone's footsteps but her own," Marcus added.

            "I heard," Remus spoke up, "that her mom was really nice."

            "Her mom was a doll," Brittany added.  "Nicest creature you could have ever met."

            "No kidding?"  Sirius asked.  "I heard she was a Slytherin."

            "Being evil is not a requirement for being a Slytherin," Marcus said.  "Daniel Montgomery is a perfect example.  He was a Slytherin when he attended Hogwarts, and now he's an Auror for the American Department of Magic.  He goes after evil and puts them away in the name of good."

            "Slytherins will do anything to get on top," Sirius dismissed.  "Even if that includes going under cover as an Auror so you can lock up all your competition.  It also helps them to learn how the good guy works so they can find any weaknesses."

            "You know what, Black," Marcus said.  "You've got," Marcus held up his forefinger and thumb and held them apart about 3 inches, "a hide this thick."

            Sirius swallowed the chicken in his mouth before giving Marcus a devilish smirk.  "Thank you, Sir," he said, causing the table to erupt into laughter.

*          *          *

            Jessica and Casey both scanned over their school lists before going to Gringotts to get their money.  

            It was the second they walked out of the bank and looked across the alley that their plans changed.  It was a quick but distinct glimpse they had, and it caused the siblings to look curiously at each other.

            "Didn't have to go far for that meeting, did he?"  Casey asked.

            "Only out of the Leaky Cauldron then back in," Jessica said turning back to Knockturn Alley, the alley in which they had just witnessed their father walking into.  "Come on," Jessica said, walking forward.  "Let's follow him."

            As they picked their way across the Diagon Alley, Casey said one last thing before they hid themselves.

            "Jess, he doesn't usually lie to us about his meetings.  Why lie now?"

            "Because they're planning something big, and Dad's worried that we'll blow the whistle."

            "But we can't."  On Tom Riddle, was the unspoken end of his sentence.

            "But we can on Dad," Jess said before pulling up the hood of her cloak.  "Come on," she said irritably before leading her brother down the dark alley.

            Jessica hated this alley because it always made her skin crawl.  It was like the life had been sucked out of this place and all that was left were dead hearts and sallow, sunken skins.  As they walked past witches and wizards whose time had come and gone, they were touched and felt, recognized as kids by their heights.  Jessica wasn't that afraid because she knew how to defend herself against these people.  But she knew that these people would probably do no more than touch her in an attempt to coax her to stop, something both her and Casey knew not to do.  You see, in Knockturn Alley, you had to know the walk, the one that signified you were one of them.  The hidden face, the purpose.  You could not show fear.  No matter how terrified you ever got in here, you should never show fear, Jessica knew.  And you should never stop until you reach your destination.

            Jessica saw their father when they turned the next curve.  They were at the end of the alley now.  Her and Casey huddled near a barrel across the street from their dad and seemed to be looking in the window of a store.  In reality, they listened intently to their father's mutterings.

            "Where is he?"  Their father said in a low growl.  "That stupid ass bastard.  Where the hell is he?"

            Suddenly, they heard some distinct crunch of gravel and saw out of the corner of the other side of their eyes that people parted for a new comer.  This had to be someone important, Jessica thought, but when she gave a casual, curious glance over her shoulder, the man had a hood in place.  Jessica moved casually to the other side of the barrel.  The merchandise in the window was to her left and Casey to her right.  But, here, she had a perfect spot to see their father and this new comer with still having the window as her alibi.  

The man glanced around before pulling down his hood.  Ignatius Malfoy.

            "What took you so long," their dad demanded.

            "Don't you dare question me, Ziners," Ignatius responded sharply.

            "It'll be Lord Voldemort next, so you better have a fucking good explanation, Malfoy," Father snarled.

            Malfoy shook his head before looking away.  It was but a second, and he was on their dad again.  "What is this meeting suppose to be about anyway?  I have to be careful.  I'm starting to think Potter's suspecting me of something."

            Jeffery gave a slow smile, causing shivers of fear to race up Jessica's spine.  She had only seen that smile once before.  It was right after her mother's death, and Jessica had through her tears asked him angrily whom he expected to take care of her and Casey now.  The smile had crept up on his face before he responded, "Why, your Godfather will."

            But now, he responded to Ignatius's question and remarks with, "Just you wait and see."  

            _What do you think that meant?_ Casey asked.

            _I don't know, _Jessica replied.

*          *          *

            Severus was sitting on his trunk on Platform 9 and ¾.  He was 20 minutes early.  His dad had dropped him and Salazar off.  When Salazar ran off to entertain himself, Michael talked briefly with Severus before he had to go back to work.  Severus had wished he had stayed longer, and his father had even offered, but Severus knew how important his job was, so he told his father to go.  He was fine here.

            Currently Severus had parked himself far from the crowds of families parting.  He watched his feet instead of the people, but he glanced up when some more people entered.  It was Jessica and her brother.  Severus smiled but quickly hid it, in part because he didn't want Jessica know he was beginning to like her, and in part because of the person that followed them onto the platform.  Jeffery Ziners.

            Severus looked curiously at Jessica and Casey.  They seemed to mean to walk past him, but their father stopped them with, "Children, don't be so impolite to your friend."  Jeffery smiled at Severus, making Severus nervous.

            Jessica and Casey almost grudgingly pulled their trolleys back and next to Severus.  "Bye, Father," Jessica said quietly.

            "Bye, Father," Casey repeated but in a scratchy voice.

            Jeffery nodded to both of them.  "Be good children and do as you were told," he specifically looked at Jessica.

            Jessica looked up and into his eyes at the tone of voice.  She nodded grimly.

            Satisfied, he took his leave.  "Farewell, children.  Good day to you, Severus," he said before departing.

            Once he was on the other side of the barrier, Jessica and Casey sat on their trunks with two plops before propping their chins in their hands.  After a moment of silence, Jessica looked across Severus to Casey.  "You alright?"  She asked.

            "I got the bleeding to stop," he said in that painful sounding voice.  "But not for long, I'm guessing."

            "Severus, can you fix Casey's ankle?  Dad was up to his old tricks," she finished the last part off in a whisper.

            Severus nodded but before Casey let him do anything, Casey added, "And Jessica's wrist is hurt as well."

            "I'm fine," she groaned.

            "No, you're not," Casey argued.  "You could barely push the trolley, and once you finally got it going, you could barely keep control of it."

            Severus smiled softly at her second groan but hid it with a duck of his head.  "Here, let me see the wrist first," he said, reaching for her arm.  She sighed and handed it over.

            While Severus was inspecting the wrist, Casey asked in a quiet whisper.  "Did you get one, Severus?"

            Severus looked curiously at him before realizing what he meant.  The Death Eater's uniform.  "Yes.  I left it home for safekeeping.  I was surprised to even get one," he finished off quietly.

            "Well, you're friends with us now," Casey said, almost bitterly.  "Expect a lot of things to be going your way now."

            "What do you mean?"  Severus glanced at Casey, still holding Jessica's arm tenderly as he had been when inspecting it.

            Jessica answered his question though.  "Hate to break it to you, Severus, but you're a means to an end."

            "I'm always a means to an end or something equally less important," he said his natural response before asking, "But what is the end in this case?"

            "Us.  We've been trying to get you off the hook since the party.  That's why we tried to walk past you now.  We thought if we didn't sit with you, that he might think we really weren't friends with you.  Didn't work though," Jessica said quietly before looking at her arm.  "What's the diagnosis, doc?"  She asked with a smirk.

            Severus ducked his head to hide another smile.

*          *          *

            Stephen Medley slowly walked down Platform 9 and ¾.  The kids were bustling and excited.

He had stopped at the Ministry last night to give his thoughts to a fellow Auror on a case that had been puzzling him and ended up staying overnight.  Instead of Apparating back this morning, Stephen decided to go back on the Hogwarts Express.

As he zigzagged down and around the pillar that beheld the magical barrier onto the platform, Stephen slowed as he noticed three trolleys and three students sitting back in the shadows.  If you went through the barrier, you probably wouldn't notice them on your way by.  As a matter of fact, you probably wouldn't notice them at all unless you were looking directly at them.  This got Stephen curious of course.  It just spelled scheming trouble.  He decided to wait, watch, and, of course, listen in a bit.

"Let me look at your ankle, Casey."

That sounded like Severus Snape.  Sure enough, when the middle one leaned forward and the light cast across his face, it was the stern but shy little boy that spoke little in class but definitely knew more than the average student.

The third student leaned forward to watch Severus examine the other's ankle.  When Severus leaned forward more to get a closer look at the ankle the other was holding up as best he could, the light similarly caught the third's face.  It was Jessica Ziners.  Casey…yes, now Stephen remembered.  It was her little brother who seemed to have hurt his ankle.

Severus examined the ankle.  "It's pretty deep," he finally murmured.  "What did he do exactly?"  Here, Severus looked up and into the boy's face.

"Set a Bluebell flame to my ankle, and I don't know what he did to it, but it stayed around my ankle until it gave me a good burn before he called it off, and then he slapped a few Strickiomus' on the burn.  Not quite sure what I did to deserve it…" Casey finished off in a murmur, looking away.

Jessica spoke up during Casey's pause.  "Strickiomus' break through the skin something easy, as you know, but with—"

"The burn already…" Severus finished, interrupting Jessica.

"Yeah," Casey grunted in agreement.

"Well, this is going to take some ointment or something," Severus said, looking at it, "but we can get that…" he trailed off, his eyes finding something beyond Casey.

Severus had spotted Stephen looking at them, so Stephen thought it was probably a good time to walk up.  He dropped his knapsack and kneeled in front of Casey.  "Lemme have a look," he said.

Casey slowly moved his ankle over to him.  Stephen glanced up to see clear apprehension written on every feature of the boy's face.  However, Stephen didn't take the time to examine that and looked at the ankle.

"Yeah, Severus is right," Stephen agreed a minute later, after examining the ankle he knew that had to be hurting like hell.  "You'll have to get some burn-healing paste for sure.  I don't know what could be used for the cuts, but Madam Promphey could probably decide…"

Stephen looked up to notice Casey shaking his head.  "I'll just go to Professor Rum when I get there," he said, his voice giving an almost painful crack at the end.

Stephen's eyes went to Severus.  The boy was leaning back, and he was looking to a spot on the ground to Stephen's left.  Jessica on the other hand was giving Stephen a deeply suspicious look.  "We'll go to Professor Rum when we get there," she said, almost angrily.  "You can even check up with Rum afterwards to make sure we did."

Stephen moved his gaze back to Casey's ankle, but he noticed on his way back that Severus had looked up at him for a split second before going back to the ground, almost as if he was trying to gage Stephen's reaction to the girl.  Stephen looked back at Casey's ankle.  "Can you walk on this?"  He asked, not looking up at the boy.

"Survived so far," Casey answered sharply.

That caused Stephen to look back up into the boy's hazel eyes to see his resolve heighten.  But Stephen wondered if it was the resolve not to go to Madam Promphey or a resolve to count Stephen as the enemy.

Stephen decided he was going to help temporarily, even if they didn't want him to.  He reached into his knapsack and grabbed his t-shirt from yesterday.  It was an old one he had been meaning to replace for some time now.  Stephen brought the worn bottom edge of the t-shirt up to his mouth and started a tear with his teeth.

"What are you doing?"  Jessica asked worriedly as he tore all the way around the bottom part of the shirt.

"I remember well the boats the first years take across the lake," he said, almost dismissively as he worked at the makeshift binding.  As he set the boy's small ankle in the center of the strip and wrapped the opposite ways with the two sides so the ends ended up in front, where he tied them, he added, "You don't want a wound like this to get infected."  He looked up at Jessica.  She had leaned forward to watch his progress, and it was almost as if she had expected him to hurt her brother further.  Stephen recalled the protectiveness he had heard in Jessica's voice last year during that first detention, when she had spoken of her brother.

"Go to Professor Rum first thing you get there, Jessica.  Tell him what Casey's injuries are exactly, so he can get the necessary items to help heal him before the Sorting."

Jessica nodded dumbly, her jaw hanging slightly open.  Stephen grabbed his knapsack and stood up.  As he started to walk off, he nodded at each child.  "I'll see you at Hogwarts," he said before leaving to board the train, not sure if he just hurt his relationship with those three or improved it.

*          *          *

Gary eyed the children as they bustled and grew overexcited at the sight of their friends.  Another year of Hogwarts.Gary sighed.

"I just love the Welcoming Feast," Filius Flitwick said eagerly.

"Good for you," Gary murmured.

Pomona Sprout, who sat between the Potions Master and the Charms Professor, nudged Gary.  "Now, Gary, get in a better mood," she admonished.

"He's never been in a good mood," Filius pointed out.  Gary glanced at the professor to see Filius smiling teasingly at him.  Gary didn't smile back.

"Professor Rum?"  
            Gary looked ahead of himself, startled.  It was Jessica.  "Yes, Miss Ziners?"

She glanced nervously at Pomona and Filius and then looked at the other side of Dumbledore.  She looked that way for so long, that Gary glanced down there too.  Stephen Medley had stopped in his conversation with Hagrid and was looking at Jessica.  It was not a curious look his face bore, which made Gary himself curious.  It was one that seemed to tell Jessica he was watching to make sure she did something.

Gary looked back at the girl the same time she looked back at him.  "Can I talk to you out in the hall?"  She said quickly.

Gary nodded and got up.  They walked out the front doors of the Great Hall and into a quieter Entrance Hall.  Gary waited for Jessica.  She stopped before deciding to follow the wall down a bit before stopping again.  Gary followed her, and then waited expectantly for her to speak.

She waited a minute, her eyes skittering everywhere else but Gary, before saying, "Casey's ankle was hurt.  Severus…and…Professor Medley both think that he needs some sort of ointment to heal rather than a spell."

"Professor Medley?" was Gary's first reaction.

"Yeah.  He saw Severus looking at Case's ankle while we waited to board the Hogwarts Express.  Severus," here she looked Gary straight in the eyes, "is good with the healing."  She smiled softly, glancing away.  "He's good at a lot of stuff."

Gary ignored her comment about Severus and asked, "How are you injured?"

Her gaze shot back to Gary's.

"How are you injured?"  He asked again.

"I'm not," she said, her eyes looking away immediately.

"Miss Ziners," he said sternly.

"Severus healed it," she mumbled finally.  

Gary sighed before asking, "How did Casey get hurt?"

"Bluebell flame that burned his skin pretty bad, then a few Strickiomus' on top of that.  It's pretty deep."

Gary nodded.  "And your brother's coming over on the boats?"  Gary asked, disapprovingly.

"Medley bound the ankle for him.  He wanted Casey to go to Promphey when he got here (I'm assuming he was planning to have him skip the train and come straight here with him), but we convinced Medley to let us come see you about it when we arrived.  Medley probably figured we wouldn't let him take Casey to skip the train then."

Stephen being nice to the children was an oddity on the one hand, but even odder was the face that Stephen hadn't confronted Gary the second he arrived at the school.  Something to ponder later.

"Okay, Jessica…Miss Ziners, go back into the Great Hall.  I'll take care of your brother before the Sorting."

Jessica nodded and took off.

*          *          *

            "Are you okay, Jessica?"  Severus asked.

            "I just have a bad feeling."

            "Because we've contracted a plague that the other Slytherins are afraid they're going to catch if they look at us?"  Severus asked.

            Jessica gave him a surprised look.  "You just made a joke."

            "I've been known to do that," he answered dryly.

            Jessica smiled before answering his question.  "No.  That'll wear off eventually.  I'll see if I can make some headway later on.

            "But, about my bad feeling.  I just have a bad feeling that something bad is going to happen."

            "Well, you usually don't get a bad feeling when something good is going to happen."

            Jessica swung her gaze from the doors back at him again.  "Two jokes, Sev.  Be careful or you're going to make it a habit."

            Severus shook his head at her but seemed to refuse to smile.

            "You think the little brat masquerading as your brother is going to get into Slytherin House too?"  She asked after a minute of silence between them.

            "Little brat?  Masquerading as my brother?"  Severus repeated back curiously.

            She looked back at him.  "Yeah, that sniveling thing that kept following me around.  You know, at that dinner party at Malfoy's…after I told you…"

            Severus nodded.  "You don't appear to like my brother," he observed.

            "The fact that anybody does amazes me."

            When Severus didn't responded, Jessica looked at him.  "What?"  She asked.

            "You don't like my brother?"  He asked again.

            "No," Jessica repeated, almost irritably.  She glanced at the door again before looking back at Severus.  Seeing the look on his face, she said, "Sev, here's the deal.  I'm generally liked and given attention to for two reasons.  My eyes and my power.  That's why the little snot was following me around that night.  (And trust me.  I may be 12, but I know the signs.)  Anyway, the eyes and the power are not all of who I am.  The problem," she said, her voice getting lower as she looked away, "no one generally sees who I really am.  And when they do," Jessica looked at the ground, "they don't like it."

            "Well," Severus responded quietly after a minute, looking at an indiscriminate spot on the table, "At least there's a part of you that they like."

            Jessica's gaze swung back to Severus.  He just glanced at her.  She didn't get a chance to respond though because the First Years finally walked in.

            Both Jessica and Severus looked for and found Casey near the back of the pack.  He was by far the smallest First Year.  Both Jessica and Severus glanced at each other and each knew the other had made that same observation.  Then, as though by silent agreement, they searched out the young Salazar.  Salazar wasn't the tallest, but he was a good height, probably half an inch shorter than his taller older brother was.  Salazar's hair was as black as Severus' was but held a shinier, healthier quality, whereas Severus' hair, though shiny, didn't appear as healthy.  Jessica wondered about that.  She also wondered about the fact that while both boys' skin was pale, Severus usually looked kind of sick.  Salazar just looked like all the other noble lazy boys.

            She didn't get time to ponder these differences though as Professor McGonagall did her business and put the stool and Sorting Hat up.  Jessica listened to the song with amusement until she noticed Casey doing something.  His left hand was clenching and unclenching.  Oh no…

            Jessica calmed her mind before saying, _Case, calm down._

            Her brother's hazel eyes shot quickly to his left and spotted her.

            _Speak for yourself,_ came the angry reply.

            _If you don't calm down, Case…_

_            Your talking is making more nervous,_ he bit back angrily before looking straight ahead.

            "Oh no…" Jessica murmured aloud.  

Severus looked at her.  "What's wrong?"

Jessica started to nod at Casey's hand but stopped herself.  She stopped looking at him because she didn't want to make him more nervous than he already was.

"Case is a natural klutz.  He's works hard not to be, and he's mastered the skill of controlling his problem.  There are times he can't though, and it's usually when he's emotional or just basically not focusing his energy at not being a klutz.

"Anyway, one of the things that he starts doing before a major klutz disaster is clenching and unclenching his fist."

As the first name was called, Severus sought and found the fist and observed the movement.  "Your bad feeling…"  Severus muttered before giving her a glance.

"I know," she said tensely.

"Can you talk to him?  You know," Severus tapped a long finger to the side of his head, "in your head."

"I tried, but he got pissy with me.  I'm not going to push it or he'll get more pissy with me and be more apt to…be klutzy."  She sighed.

"Black, Sarah!"  Professor McGonagall called.  It was the third name…or was it the fourth?  Jessica didn't know.

"That's Sirius' sister," Jessica whispered to Severus.  "Narcissa's and Bellatrix's cousin."

Bellatrix Black, Narcissa's sister, sat down the table from them.  She was a tall girl in her Sixth Year and thoroughly mean to everyone and everything.  She had taken up to being nice to Jessica since the party at the Malfoy's though.  Jessica had pretty much been getting a mixed reaction out sum lot of them.  Either hate or love.  Jessica wasn't horribly surprised at either reaction.  It had been mostly hate though.

"_GRYFFINDOR!!!"_  The Sorting Hat suddenly shouted, pulling Jessica from her thoughts.

"He's flexing his fingers now," Severus whispered, startling Jessica.  She looked back at Casey to see that his small hand indeed was now stretching out.

"Give him about 3 seconds," she murmured as they watched.  Sure enough, he went back to the fist exercise.

Both kids sighed.

They watched the kids being sorted for a bit, the names sort of blurring together in Jessica's head until her eyes caught a boy at the side of the group.  His hair blonde and quite shaggy, he was probably the next smallest to Casey.  His eyes were staring at the ground.

"Hey, Sev," Jessica said quietly.  "Isn't that that Unspeakable…uh…Sally Jones' son?  That one that the Unspeakables wanted to train separately from Hogwarts 'cause he's so smart?  Then they wanted to hire him and all that crap."

Severus gave her curious look.  He had heard about the boy from his father bringing it up in a dinner conversation earlier this summer.  But how did she know?

"Yes, he is," Severus answered her quietly.  "But how do you know about him?"

Her eyes found the table before looking up at him.  "From you know who," she said quietly.

Severus frowned, suddenly understanding.  His mother must have informed the Dark Lord.  Why would that make him sad, Severus abruptly wondered then.  If the Dark Lord could have the boy, then that would mean more power for him and not for…the other side.  Severus shook himself and looked back up as the boy's name was called.

"Jones, Jim!"

The boy looked up startled, as though he hadn't been paying attention.  When McGonagall nodded at him, the boy went forward and sat on the stool.  The hat was on his head for an incredibly long time before it seemed to reach its conclusion with a satisfied smile.

_"SLYTHERIN!!!"_

Jessica gave a defeated sigh.

"What?"  Severus asked as he gave a half-hearted clap for their new entry, who walked meekly over, his eyes finding the ground again.

"More likely that _he'll_ get him then," Jessica whispered, "if he's in Slytherin and all."

Severus didn't know what to say to that, so he went back to watching the Sorting.  

"Longbottom, Brice!"

_"GRYFFINDOR!!!"_

He wanted to be a Death Eater, Severus said to himself.  Lord Voldemort promised better things.  Severus glanced over at James Potter and Sirius Black at the Gryffindor table.  They had a small group of girls giggling at something they said or did.  Severus glanced at Jessica.  Originally, he thought that the fact that he had gotten a Death Eater cloak would have impressed her, but both her and her brother seemed angry about it.  Severus glanced back at Potter and Black.  What would it take to make Jessica like him?

Severus shook his head and looked back at the Sorting.  He wasn't going to let his 

head go down that path because it was utterly pointless.  Jessica wasn't about to like him…in _that _respect at least.  

After about two or three more names, his brother was called.

"Snape, Salazar!"

Salazar walked up with the confident gait he always used and sat on the stool with a smile.  Severus' only satisfaction after hearing the murmurs of pleasure ringing up and down the Slytherin table was when McGonagall glared at the cocky boy and Dumbledore sighed patiently.  Severus' eyes searched for Professor Rum's reaction to see that the Potions Master didn't even seem to be paying attention.  Severus gave a small smile at that.  The event seemed to be boring the Potions Master tremendously, and he shoved off in waves to everyone around him that he thought he had better things to do with his time.

The hat had barely grazed Salazar's perfect head before it shouted, almost angrily, _"SLYTHERIN!!!!!"_

Salazar walked to his table then and strolled down the side Severus sat.  He gave a smile and nod to everyone who congratulated him.  When he got to Jessica, he stopped as though expecting her to say something.  When she didn't even look at him, he started to reach a hand to tap her on the shoulder.  His hand stopped halfway there however.  

"Touch me and I'll break every bone in your right hand," she growled 

Salazar moved on as though she had said nothing to him.

Severus didn't look anywhere but his plate.  He wasn't quite sure whether he wanted to laugh or gasp in horror.

But all those feelings left him four names later and the last child was called.

"Ziners, Casey!"

Casey remained rooted in the spot he had occupied in the back of the once crowd.  When he heard his name, he stared at McGonagall for a second.  She nodded, and as Casey started forward, Jessica took a deep breath and held it.  Severus did as well.

But they didn't have to wait long.  Casey tripped over his own feet.  And his shoes weren't even untied.

The group erupted in his laughter.  There were only three students that held their mirth, and all three closed their eyes slowly before looking back at the boy on all fours.  Casey, though red crawling up his neck and onto his face, pushed himself back up and walked to the stool as though no one was laughing in the Great Hall.  Dumbledore got the crowd hushed with a few loud words and a spark from his wand.  Dumbledore then tried smiling at the boy, but Casey, in the determined intent that so defined his strength, never saw it.  He also missed McGonagall's admiring smile.

*          *          *

Casey breathed a sigh of relief when the hat covered his eyes, and he didn't have to see the crowd.

_Ahhhhh_, the hat said.  _The other one.__  Your sister told me about you last year._  _Mighty Blood goes to Slytherin.  Yes, yes, I can see it all here.  But you are an unusual one_, the hat said, a curious note in its voice.  _Determination to help your sibling perform her duty.__  Yes, yes, as it was with your uncle.  But there is another determination here.  To prove your worth…interesting…_

_Yes, I have that,_ Casey growled at the hat.  _It's__ a determination to prove to my father that I am as worthy an opponent as Jessica.  But that's not bad…_

_Sometimes not…sometimes it is._

_I'll__ never work for Lord Voldemort.  Never, _Casey responded vehemently.

_Many say that now, but many will not succeed in fighting the temptation._

Casey pictured his mother in his mind, times when she had played with Jessica and him, her smile and her laughter, and then he pictured her as he had last seen, tied to that table, her head lulled to the side, looking at him with black empty eyes, her face and arms grotesquely cracked, the blood still damp...

When he spoke again to the hat, his voice was dark.  _But__ not everyone has the motivation I do._

_I imagine so, young Mighty Blood.  I imagine so._  The hat's voice didn't hold any humor or lightness though.  

Casey sighed.  Would he succumb to the darkness Lord Voldemort offered, would he become one of his damned?  Or would he succumb to another darkness, one that went by a name other than Voldemort?  Or would he be able to hold onto the light that had shone from his mother?

_Time will tell,_ the hat responded, reminding Casey it could read _every thought_, not just the ones directed at it.

_It's time_, the hat sighed.

And Casey knew it was.  

_"SLYTHERIN!!!"_

Casey slid the hat off carefully, handing it to a curious McGonagall.  Casey deliberately turned around the long way to the Slytherin table.  He wanted to eye two kids, two last names that he knew so well from a diary kept not that long ago.  He spotted them looking at him curiously.  Casey didn't smile but rather kept turning to spot the third name, one that had slipped his mind until not so long ago.  His sister received his last eye contact as Casey said in his head _Four__, a year, a line, a wall_.  This was it.  

Casey sighed before starting towards the Slytherin table like a man condemned.

To be continued…


	6. Green and Glowing

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter 6:  Green and Glowing**

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  I'm not making a red cent (or a cent of any other color).  You know the drill.

Thanks to the WebMagician's Full Moon Calculator website ().  I got the exact date in October of 1972 for the full moon from there.  And thanks to the Formula by Rete! website () for helping me figure out which day of the week October 22, 1972, fell on.  

Thanks to my patient and wonderful betas.  This chapter is a doozy in size, and I imagine it was a delight to edit…

The character list is also going to be a doozy.  Many of the characters introduced in this chapter are NOT mine (though some are mine).  Since all we have is a name on most of the Harry Potter characters I introduced in this chapter, I took creative license.  (Sorry, J.K., but as I said, I'm not making any money on this.)

As usual, I will not only list my original characters, but the characters of Ms. Rowling's I have taken a creative license with.

As before, 'mc' will follow the names of the characters that are mine.  The rest are Ms. Rowling's.  Kudos to her.

Lastly, the master character list is kept at: 

  Any character that has ever shown up in my story is listed on there (I update the website every time I add a chapter).

**_Neutral:_**

**Narcissa Black:**  Second Year Slytherin.

**Calista Andrews (mc)**:  Second Year Slytherin.

**Bertie Magal (mc):**  A Second Year student in Slytherin House.

**Rosemary Mavea (mc):**  Another Second Year Slytherin.

**Brigham Michaels (mc):**  First Year Slytherin.

**Gibson Handley (mc):**  First Year Slytherin.

**Fabian Prewett:**  A First Year Gryffindor.  He's Gideon Prewett's younger brother.  He is tall for a First Year and mouthier than most.  He has straw colored hair, tall, not overweight but not skinny either, and has brown eyes.  

**Gideon Prewett:**  A Fourth Year Gryffindor.  He is Fabian Prewett's older brother.  He and his brother look a lot alike.

**Lauren Melbrook (mc):**  She is also a Fourth Year Gryffindor.  She is Gideon's girlfriend.

**Jim Masterhead (mc):**  He is a Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditich team.

**Lynn Reger (mc):**  She is a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditich team.

**Andrew Bella (mc):**  He is a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditich team.

**Hunter Hosen (mc):**  He is a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditich team.

**Grant Havee (mc):**  He is the Keeper on the on the Gryffindor Quidditich team.

**Alice Bolmond:**  (The last name is mine, but the first name and the character are not.)  She is a Second Year Gryffindor.  

**Marlene McKinnon:**  Another Second Year Gryffindor.

**Dorcas Meadows:**  Another Second Year Gryffindor.

**Kelly Brier (mc):**  A nervous, panicky, but well-meaning Second Year Gryffindor.

**Edgar Bones:**  Hufflepuff's Quidditch Captain.

**Milo**** (mc):**  Jessica's Barn Owl.

**A'Marie (mc):**  Casey's Great Hawk Owl.

**Friar Laurence (mc):**  Small, snowy white owl that Jessica and Casey used for secret communication Jessica's First Year at Hogwarts.

**Crookshanks:**  The same cat from the series, except in my world, he is what I call a "Magical Messenger."  He delivers secret messages back and forth between Lily and Jessica.  For information as to how I have this work, see Chapter 2: A Penny For Your Thoughts.

**Andorra**** Dumbledore (mc):**  The younger sister of Albus Dumbledore.  She is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in America.

**Mark Halmer (mc):**  Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.  He went to school in America with Riley Haderson.

**Andrea 'Drea' Kay (mc):**  Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.  She was a year behind Mark Halmer and Riley Haderson is school in America.

**Kevin Benson (mc):  **Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.  He is Josh Benson's identical twin brother.

**Josh Benson (mc):**  Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.  He is Kevin Benson's identical twin brother.

**Richie Thender (mc):**  Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.

**Feng Cong (mc):**  Member of the Dark Operators, a special team under the direction of Magical Law Enforcement in America.  She is the newest member of the team.

**Grens (mc):**  He is an assistant to the Secretary of Magic in America.

**Lemore (mc):**  He is the other assistant to the Secretary of Magic in America.

**Zeckaroy (mc):**  He is the Head of International Magical Cooperation in America.

**_Good:_**

**Frank Longbottom:**  In my book, Frank is a loveable, cocky kid.  The oldest of seven boys, he is in Gryffindor House.  He is also the new announcer for the Quidditch games.

**Amelia Black (mc):**  An assistant to Minister Rin, she hates her counterpart, Ignatius Malfoy (and that's putting it mildly).  Amelia is also the mother of Sirius Black and the wife of Malcolm Black.

**Malcolm Black (mc):**  The husband of Amelia and the father of Sirius, he is a very influential school governor.

**Barty Crouch:**  Just a reminder – he was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement during the Voldemort years.

**_Bad:_**

**Rabastan Lestrange:**  He's a Second Year student in the Slytherin House.  He is the younger brother of Rodolophus Lestrange.

**Rodolophus Lestrange:**  He is a Sixth Year Slytherin and a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

**Evan Rosier:**  A somewhat stocky fellow.  He is a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

**Mitchell Avery**:  The Slytherin Quidditch team's Keeper.  (The first name is mine, but the last name and the character are Ms. Rowling's.)

**Brent Crabbe (mc):**  The later to be father of Vincent Crabbe from Ms. Rowling's characters.  He's a Second Year student in Slytherin House as well.

**Mavis Goyle (mc):**  The later to be father of Gregory Goyle from Ms. Rowling's characters.  He's a Second Year student in Slytherin House as well.

**Lucius Malfoy:**  The son of Ignatius Malfoy.  He is a Second Year student in Slytherin House as well.  (And I do apologize.  It wasn't until long after I created this story idea that I realized that Lucius was _older_ than Snape.)

**Richard Mulciber: ** He is a Sixth Year Slytherin.  (The first name is mine, but the last name and the character are Ms. Rowling's.) 

**Antonin Dolohov:**  He is a Fourth Year Slytherin.

**Walden Macnair:**  He is a Fifth Year Slytherin.

*          *          *

            "Hello, Narcissa…Calista…Rosemary," Jessica greeted the three girls as they entered the dorm room.  They each gave a "humph" and looked the other way.  Jessica glanced across the room at Bertie Magal, who had come up but a minute ago.  Bertie looked away, but it seemed as though it was with reluctance.  Jessica sighed.

            She finished untying her shoes before shoving them under her bed.  "Is this the way you're going to play it?" she asked Narcissa when the room remained silent.

            Narcissa opened her mouth to respond before clamping it shut and looking away, as though she suddenly remembered that she had resolved not to talk to Jessica.

            "Look, Narcissa…the rest of you.  We've got to share this room for the next 6 years.  We might as well try to be on talking terms and make the most of it."  No response.  The three girls just continued to unpack, and Bertie kept her gaze on anything but Jessica.  Jessica sighed again before coming up with another idea.  "I could have picked any of you at that dinner party to give the Crucio to," she pointed out.  The three girls paused in their packing and Bertie looked at her curiously.

            "I didn't pick any of you.  I had to pick someone, but I didn't pick any of you.  As far as Lucius…" Jessica thought hard quickly before coming up with, "he…took one for the team, you could say.  Lord Voldemort wanted something, and it was something tough, but Lucius took it for him, took it for the Dark Lord."  Jessica couldn't believe she got through that out without gagging.  It was sick that she had to use Riddle's own arguments, but it was called survival in her book.

            "I only unleash the power when _he_ commands me," Jessica took a minute to swallow the bile that had started to creep up the back of her throat.  "I am only for his beck and call.  I will do nothing to any of you unless he commands me."  Jessica wanted to vomit, but she continued.  "And who knows?  Those close to me…I might be able to protect them if a time comes when they need protection."  She was going to gag herself if she continued, so she was glad when Narcissa responded.

            "I apologize, Jessica," she said then looked at the other three.  They apologized as well, but it was mumbles.  The fact that Bertie also apologized caught Jessica as peculiar as the girl had remained her normal quiet self since arriving and had even spoken to Jessica briefly before the other three came up.

            "Thanks," Jessica said, and in an attempt to cover up the now stilted feeling in the room, she asked, "So, how did the rest of summer break go for you guys?"

            That got them all yammering…except Bertie, Jessica noticed.  The little blonde girl sat on her bed, listening, a small smile perched on the corners of her lips as she watched an interaction of which she chose not to participate.

*          *          *

            After their morning of a double Defense Against the Dark Arts, Severus and Jessica headed quietly to lunch.  Casey was already there amusing himself by making his empty goblet dance.  His plate was empty, so he was clearly waiting for Jessica and Severus.

            "So, how did Charms and Transfiguration go?"  Jessica asked when she and Severus sat across from him.

            "Boring," Casey responded, not stopping conducting his goblet with his wand.  "Tom's already taught us all that stuff."

            Severus shot Jessica a glance, which she ignored as the three dished out their food.

            "I know what you mean," she told her brother.

            Suddenly, Severus' eyes caught his brother walking in, followed by the other three boys in Casey's dorm room: Brigham Ryan, Gibson Handley, and Jim Jones.  While Brigham and Gibson seemed to latch as close as they could to Salazar, Jim seemed content just to trail behind, though he was obviously part of their group now.

            Salazar slapped the back of Casey's head on his way past.  "Hey, dweeb.  We gonna see you in Potions or are we going to have to wait for your next fall?"

            Brigham and Gibson laughed heartily at the joke, but Jim only gave a smile.  When Salazar and his two goons turned to head down the table further, Jim set a book next to Casey's plate before following them.

            "Thanks," Casey murmured, picking it up and sliding it into his bag.

            "What's that?"  Jessica asked, trying to lean over the table to catch a glimpse before he hid it in his bag.

            "My Charms textbook," Casey sighed.  "Salazar took it from me.  Jim pulled me aside and said not to worry.  He would get it back."

            Jessica's gaze swung down the table to the boy who had taken a place next to Gibson before she went back to her brother.

            "He seems to be one of them now…"

            Casey shrugged.  "He seems cool though."

            The three ate in silence for a bit before Casey said.  "Oh, Jess.  I have the obligatory letter to Dad done.  I thought you might want to sign it before I owl it."

            "Oh, cool," Jessica said, earning a look from Severus when she talked with her mouth full.  She swallowed before smirking wickedly at him causing the 12-year old boy to shake his head wearily.  She chuckled before saying; "I've got a letter to Uncle Danny too.  Let's finish early here then we can go to the Owlery together."

            Casey nodded.

*          *          *

            Jessica and Casey entered the drafty room at the top of the West Tower.  The Owlery was already full of everyone's birds.  Jessica quickly spotted Milo looking over a small, snowy white owl that Jessica had almost forgotten about.  "Hey, Case," Jessica said.  "It's Friar Laurence."

            Casey turned away from searching for his own ornery owl and turned to their small secret communicator from last year.  Jessica had bought him with Uncle Danny's money so she and Casey could have an 'unhindered by Dad' communication.  She used to send the owl to Uncle Danny's, and he would give her brother the note.

            "I forgot that I had asked Hagrid to take care of him over the summer.  I couldn't come home with the second bird without the proper excuses."

            Casey nodded.  "We don't need him anymore now that I'm here instead of home, so what do you reckon we do with him?"

            Jessica shrugged.  "I reckon we keep him here.  Don't know."  She glanced at her brother.  "He might come in handy one day."  Jessica turned back and took Milo from his perch.  "I'll run by Hagrid's hut soon and ask Hagrid to take care of him.  Maybe I'll work out some sort of pay arrangement or something."

            "He probably won't take it.  The man loves creatures of all kinds," Casey murmured as he searched for his bird.  Suddenly, there was a loud, distinct hoot from near the ceiling.  Both kids looked up to see A' Marie, Casey's Great Hawk Owl, glaring at them from the highest perch in the place.  Casey sighed helplessly as all the bird did was glare at him.

            Jessica laughed.  "She probably thinks she's too good for this place."

            "And probably angry now that I had the audacity to let her be stashed here," Casey finished, before biting his lip to think of a way to coax the girl down.  He frowned before grabbing two treats out of his pocket.  He always had to be careful with A' Marie and treats because, with her attitude, if she got used to a lot, she would expect a lot, then more as time went on.  But Jessica saw, this time, Casey caved.

            A' Marie saw her master cave too and flew down to his shoulder.  As she ate the treats, Casey grumbled.  "You're a snob, A' Marie.  A full blown snob."

            She stopped before the second treat and glared at him.

            "But I love you anyway," Casey grinned as he stroked part of her body.

            Jessica shook her head with a laugh.  "Come on," she said.  "We have to get back before the end lunch bell."

*          *          *

            "Is something wrong, Mr. Medley?"  

Stephen startled out of his revere and looked at the door of his empty classroom.  Professor Dumbledore stood there.

            "Hm?"  Stephen asked.

            "Is everything alright, Stephen?"  Dumbledore repeated, concern now edging his voice as he took a step into the room.  "You didn't show up to supper this evening."

            Stephen straightened up in his seat.  "Yeah, I'm fine.  I had the house elves bring some up here."  Stephen gestured towards his untouched plate.

            Dumbledore walked over and peered at the food before giving Stephen a knowing smile.  Stephen chuckled before rubbing his eyes.  "I've got something on my mind."

            "Do you need to talk about it?"  Dumbledore asked quietly.

            Stephen started to shake his head but stopped himself.  "Can I ask you a question, Professor?"  
            "Certainly," Dumbledore responded.  "Mind if I sit down first?"

            Stephen shook his head.  "No, that's fine."

            Dumbledore conjured a chair before sitting and giving Stephen his full attention.

            "Ziners…both of them, they seem to know Gary quite well…"

            Albus chuckled and nodded.  "Yes, they've known him since they were born.  After the children's mother, Madeline, died, their father started bringing the children with him when he travels for business.  When Jeffery is in this area or when he is going to a place that he can't bring the children with him, he'll bring them here to Hogwarts, and Gary supervises them.  They even made a trip this past summer, about a week and a half before the start of school actually."

            Stephen nodded thoughtfully.  He was quiet for a period of time, but Albus could clearly see that he was processing this new information and forming another carefully worded question.  After a couple of minutes, Stephen turned back to the Headmaster.

            "They don't seem to trust a lot of adults besides Gary."

            "No, they don't."

            "Why?"

            Albus looked away for a minute, trying to word his own answer before he looked back at Stephen.  "Barring family members, the other adults in their lives pressure them to do something, whether the adult actually does or does not do so on purpose.  Or, because of their father, falsely categorize them.  Gary, having come from a similar background as they, is a comfort to them, for they feel no pressure from him.  And when they do, they don't feel that Gary will stop being around them if they do not give into that pressure."

            "So we have two kids that more than likely know the identity of Voldemort, and the only person on our side that they trust, won't pressure them to reveal the name of a man who is a terrible threat waiting to happen.  Gary understands the terrible threat, having been an Auror himself, but he won't pressure the kids into stopping the threat."

            Albus eyed the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher carefully.  His voice was not full of contempt but rather a curious thoughtfulness.  Before he revealed his thoughts, Stephen stood up.  "Thanks, Professor.  I've got to go speak with someone, if you don't mind…"

            "Not at all," Albus said and stood up.  He watched Stephen curiously as the boy exited the room, almost in a hurry.

*          *          *

            Gary glanced at the door when there was a quick succession of two knocks.

            "Who is it?"  He called when the person didn't identify themself.

            "Stephen!"

            Ah, Gary thought to himself.  Finally.  He had been waiting for the boy to confront him about Mr. Ziners' injured ankle.  The time had finally come.

            "Come in!"  Gary called as he went back to his lesson plan for tomorrow's Second Year Potions lesson.

            Stephen slowly pushed the door open.  He didn't say anything as he stepped in and closed it behind himself.  When he stayed quiet, Gary looked up to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor just looking at him.

            "What is it?"  Gary asked irritably.

            Stephen started to open his mouth but closed it.  He glanced at the shelf behind Gary's desk before looking back at Gary.  "Do you think that Voldemort knows about Ziners' power?"

            This question took Gary by complete surprise.  To cover it up, he asked, "What, might I ask, brought this question on?"

            "I was just thinking about your reasoning for not talking about this power and about your insistence that the Ziners' be allowed to attend Hogwarts.  And I wondered.  Does this Lord Voldemort know about Jessica's extraordinary power?"

            "Why do you think I'm even going to answer that question?"  Gary asked after another pause.

            Stephen nodded.  "Good point.  Why would you give me the benefit of the doubt for not having a sinister intention toward the girl?  Silly me.  Next question.  Who gave Casey Ziners his injury?"

            "I don't know."

            "I sincerely doubt that," Stephen sighed, crossed his arms, and leaned back before commenting, "I take it that this is not the first time you've treated a mysterious injury of either Jessica's or Casey's."

            Gary didn't respond as he went back to his lesson plan.

            Stephen rubbed a spot on his forehead before crossing his arms again.  "I would ask," he said quietly, "what are you hiding them from, but I think I'm finally beginning to understand.  But don't think that this will stop me from speaking to Dumbledore if I perceive either to be a threat to the other students."

            Gary didn't respond again.  Stephen gave a dramatic sigh as he pushed himself off his leaning post.  As soon as his hand touched the doorknob to leave, Gary spoke.

            "I suppose you're going to Dumbledore now about the injury since I have not answered your questions."

            Stephen half turned.  "No.  Contrary to your almighty belief, I'm not a little brat that whines and stomps his feet when he doesn't get his way.  I told you last time I would only go to Dumbledore if I perceive them to be a threat to the other students.  I will go to him about the mysterious power then and only then.  

"Until tomorrow, Gary," Stephen gave him a mock salute.

            It wasn't until the door was firmly shut behind the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that Gary allowed himself a small smile of relief.  Now the only one he had to win over was Minerva.

            And, of course, he still had to make sure the Ziners kids kept their powers and tempers under tight wrap, which was no easy task.

*          *          *

            Jessica had arrived at Potions before Severus.  He had wanted to go to the Owlery and left well before Jessica was finished with breakfast.  He had still not returned.

            Jessica slid into her seat with a sigh before she realized she was being glared at.  She looked Malfoy straight in the eye, but he didn't stop, so she got up and walked over to him.  She leaned on the desk and got right in his face.

            "Here's the deal, Malfoy.  I know you don't like me now, and I've never liked you, but we stick together in the House, otherwise the Gryffindors will bring us down.  It's the code, _remember?_  Hate me all you want within the walls of the House, but don't bring it out here.  If you do, it _will_ become noticeable, and people _will_ start to question it."  She waited for him to respond, and when he didn't, she said, "We may loathe each other, but we're on the same side so we might as well try not to kill each other.  If we do kill each other, we'll just be helping…" she gave a significant nod towards the other side of the room, "_them_.  Love me, hate me, I honestly don't give a damn, but wait to kill me until we've graduated this damn building."

            Without waiting for a response, she walked back to her seat.  Severus still hadn't arrived.  Jessica glanced at the other side of the room.  She made brief eye contact with Lily, but neither girl gave a smile.  It was enough to know they each wanted to smile and nod, but they wouldn't, and Lily now understood why.

            Jessica's eyes searched the Gryffindors and noticed that Black and Potter weren't seated among them.  A glance around the Slytherins told her only Severus was missing.  Her eyes searched the Gryffindors again.  No Black and Potter.  No Snape.  Why didn't she like these prospects?

            Suddenly, the two jokers of Gryffindor entered.  Both were snickering.  Jessica kept her eyes on the door after they moved in, but Severus did not enter.  Jessica looked back at Potter and Black, but her eyes only met Black's.  He was looking directly at her, an evil grin on his face.

            "Sit down, Misters Black and Potter," Rum said impatiently as he walked in.  Jessica sat forward but kept glancing at the doorway.  It didn't take Gary two seconds to realize that one person was missing.

            "Miss Ziners," Rum said, "where is Mr. Snape?"

            "I don't know, Sir," she said tersely before throwing Black and Potter an obvious look.  Both went into snickers that they tried covering up with coughs.

            Gary sighed before looking at Jessica and then at the person sitting on her other side.  Oh, great, Jessica thought.  Narcissa.

            "Miss Ziners, Miss Black, can you please go to the Hospital Ward first and see if Mr. Snape is there?  If not, can you please go inform the Headmaster that we have a missing student?"

            "Yes, Sir," they both said and got up.  Jessica glanced over to see both Potter and Black; jaws slightly slack, glaring at her now.  Jessica smirked briefly before her and Narcissa left the room together, leaving their packs behind.

            As soon as they were down the hall, Narcissa whispered, "Why didn't he just use floo to do all that?"

            "'Cause he's letting us get out part of Potions today as a little repayment for whatever gag Black and Potter pulled on Severus," Jessica responded darkly as the two walked into the Entrance Hall.

            Narcissa's jaw dropped before she giggled and smiled.  "They did something to him?  And now Rum's letting us out," she laughed before frowning.  "I hate Sirius.  Someone should hex him."

            "You and I have never been more in agreement, Narcissa," Jessica said.  Narcissa smiled at her.  Jessica returned the smile, pleased that she and the girl were finally getting along on something.

            They reached the Hospital Wing and poked their heads in.  Severus did not occupy any of the beds.  Jessica bit her lip as Narcissa spoke to Madam Promphey.  Severus had not shown up here since the start of school this year, Madam Promphey said before sending the girls away with an order to go directly back to class.  They walked to the Headmaster's office only to meet him outside it.  This time Jessica spoke.

            "Professor Dumbledore, Sir, Severus Snape didn't show up to Potions class this morning, and Professor Rum has sent us on a search for where he might be, since when I ate breakfast with him this morning he seemed perfectly fine.

            "He left from breakfast after only fifteen minutes, but that was to mail a letter to his mum.  I have not seen him since.  However, Sirius Black and James Potter showed up with grins to Potions this morning, and Sirius gave me a look, specifically me, which leads me to believe that those two might have done something to Severus."

            Dumbledore listened quietly all through her explanation before nodding.  "I'm sure he is fine, Miss Ziners.  I wouldn't worry too much.  I will walk up to the Owlery however to see if I can find him, but I'm sure he's fine."

            Jessica nodded but wasn't convinced that the Headmaster was right.  She left it in his hands anyway, and she and Narcissa went back to Potions.

            Narcissa remained quiet the whole way back, and for that, Jessica was thankful.  Every time Jessica encountered Dumbledore, she remembered her order.

            _"Get close.  Get him to think you work for him."_

            She wished, oh how she wished she were working for Dumbledore rather than Voldemort, but until she could ensure Casey's safety, Voldemort was her master.  

            As far as Dumbledore, she knew that Riddle was greatly underestimating Dumbledore's ability to care about the students.  She knew Dumbledore would not fight, kill, or prosecute a student unless there was a damn good, proof-positive reason.  Therefore, she had to do next to nothing in that area.

She had given some serious consideration to talking when they came back to school this year, telling someone _something_ because now she didn't have the threat of Casey's death being held over her head.  Now he was at school under the watchful eye of Dumbledore.  But her and Casey's little foray home between Molly's house and school had been for Riddle to make sure Jessica knew something.  She was being watched.  Someone here in Hogwarts was taking note of her every move and reporting back to Voldemort.  As long as they didn't have Casey in their hands the whole time, they needed something to make her obey.  Until Jessica knew who it was watching her (and if there was only one person doing so), Jessica was held down in her ability to inform the other side of what she knew.  

            She had given some thought as to whom it was that held this secretive duty for Voldemort.  She knew it was not Malfoy.   The Malfoys were only good for their money and their position.  Their greed for power blinded them to the intelligence, patience, reasoning, and logic it took to become…well, the king of the world.  She knew it wasn't Malfoy.  But, thus far, he had been the only one she had been able to eliminate.  

            She was 90 per cent positive that it had to be someone from her year as that would give them an intimate position to her for as long as possible.  The other 10 per cent of her reasoning was that it was someone in Casey's year.  Or there were two, one for each year.

            But until Jessica knew, her mouth and mind remained sealed.  

She sighed as they descended the steps into the Dungeons.

*          *          *

            Professor Dumbledore peered inside the Owlery not twenty minutes later.  His eyes roamed the recesses of the place, but it wasn't until he reached the far corner to his right that he saw a dark hump in the shadows.

            "Hello, Headmaster," came a low voice.

            "Severus?"  Albus started towards the boy.  He was halfway there when the stench reached him, and he involuntarily pulled back.  That's when he realized that Severus had been dragged through owl droppings and was covered in them.  When Severus looked up at the Headmaster, Albus then noticed that his face and hair were covered in droppings as well.  It was smeared all over him.

            "Severus," Albus said again slowly.  "What happened?"

            The boy looked away from Albus and out the windows but didn't say anything right away.

            "Why didn't you clean yourself?"  Dumbledore asked.

            Severus held up his hands.  "No wand," he sighed before turning away again.

            Dumbledore frowned before he pointed his own wand at him.  "Scourgify."  Severus glanced at Dumbledore before looking down at himself in surprise.  

"Thanks, Sir," he said in a quiet voice.

Albus sighed.  "Let's go to my office and have a talk, Severus," Dumbledore started to turn but stopped when Severus spoke.

"I can't, Sir," and to demonstrate why, he started to get up but was held down by something.

Dumbledore spoke a spell that got him unstuck.  When the boy got up, he brushed his backside off before saying to Dumbledore, "Sir, I would much rather not talk about it."

The headmaster remained silent for a long time before he nodded.  "Alright, Severus.  I will ask Professor McGonagall to get your wand back from Mr. Potter and Mr. Black."

Severus seemed surprised for a moment that Professor Dumbledore knew the culprits, but the young boy shrugged it off before saying, "Yeah, and my bag too while she's at it."  Severus then took off past Dumbledore angrily.

Dumbledore watched the boy disappear down the steps.  He heard him trip before he got up and smacked the wall.  He resumed his run down the steps before tripping again.  Albus heard, "Damit!" before Severus' fist hit the wall again, and his feet continued down the steps.  He seemed to make it this time without any more falls.

*          *          *

            "Misters Black and Potter!"  McGonagall yelled over the noise in the Gryffindor Common Room.  Everyone stopped and stared at McGonagall nervously.  She was seething mad.  "Follow me this very instant."

            They got up meekly and started towards her, but McGonagall stopped them.  "Get the items then follow me."

            "What—," Sirius started, but McGonagall interrupted.

            "You know very well what items I speak of," she fairly growled.

            Sirius and James paused and glanced at each other before realizing.  "I'll get them," Sirius volunteered, running up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.  A very tense silent few minutes followed while Sirius retrieved the items, no one in the Common Room moving a muscle in fear of coming under McGonagall's wrath as well.  Finally, Sirius came running down the stairs with a bag and a wand.

            Lily's eyes widened as she looked at the wand.  If she had learned one thing since her venture into the magical world, it was that you did not take another witch's or wizard's wand, even in fun and games.

            It wasn't until McGonagall and the boys left that the room came to life again.

            "What was that about?"  Alice asked.  She sat across the table from Lily as the two did their homework.

            "Didn't you hear?"  Frank asked.  He sat next to Remus Lupin and kitty corner from Peter Petigrew as the boys did their own homework at the next table.  There were two empty seats, one next to Remus, the other next to Peter, which had once held the juveniles.

            Lily and Alice both shook their head.

            "They caught Snape in the Owlery," Remus Lupin said, sounding annoyed.  "They thought it would be funny if they dragged him all over the floor of the room before sticking him to the wall."

            Lily gasped while Alice stifled a giggle.  "That's not funny," Lily said.  She turned to the boys.  "What's with the bag and wand though?"

            "Lifted it from Snape," Frank said.

            Lily shook her head.  "Those two should be locked up."

            Remus, head still buried in his book, nodded in agreement.

            Lily looked back at her homework but found she couldn't concentrate.  She pulled out another parchment and started writing.

_Jess-_

_            I just heard about what Sirius and James did to Snape.  I'm sooo sorry.  I would tell you to give him a hug for me, but I'm sure you probably haven't told him about us being friends.  Be extra nice to him.  And, for goodness sake, don't go after Sirius and James.  All you need is more detentions (I think you had more last year than Sirius).  Plus, guys don't like girls protecting them or their honour, so don't protect Severus.  Just give him comfort._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Lily_

            Lily read over her letter and giggled.  Jessica had never said she had a crush on Snape.  She had never even hinted at it, but Lily was pretty sure that's what her friend felt for Severus.

            "Can you watch my things for a second?"  Lily asked Alice.  Alice nodded, and Lily took the note upstairs.  Crookshanks was lying on her bed sound asleep.  She shook the cat awake.  He glared at her, but Lily only smiled as she held the note to the side of the cat and tapped it with her wand.

            "_Hidea-Mora_," she whispered.  The note became invisible.  The cat gave dramatic sigh before jumping off the bed.  Lily followed the cat out of the dorm and down the stairs.  She let him out before rejoining Alice and her homework.

            It was over an hour later when Sirius and James came stomping back into the Common Room, moods dark.

            "Two months detention," James growled.  "Just you wait and see, Snivellus, what we have in store for you when we get out."  James didn't seem to realize people were around.

            Neither did Sirius.  "I'm thinking hanging him over the Great Hall in his skivvies," he muttered angrily.

            "Two months?"  Lily asked, in a bright, cheery voice.  James and Sirius swung towards her.  "I think you deserve two years," she said, her bright mood becoming as dark as theirs.

            "What?"  James shot back.  "You have a crush or something on Snivellus, Evans?"  
            "No," she said, "I just think it's not right for someone to get picked on.  Why do you pick on him anyways?"  
            "He's a Slytherin," Sirius threw at her.  "We need no more."

            Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes.  "You're both idiots," she muttered.

            Both James and Sirius looked about to respond to her, but Frank interrupted that thought, seemingly almost unknowingly.  "Ever think what Ziners might do in response?"

            James just shook his head.  "She wouldn't do anything."

            "I wouldn't count on that," Sirius said.  "She's got to protect her manservant and all."

            "Would you stop calling him that?"  Remus asked, throwing Sirius a glare.  "It's become rather old."

            Sirius rolled his eyes at him.  "Ziners, she's a freak herself.  We should get _her_ next time," he said to James.

            James shrugged noncommittally.

            Julie Rin, the tall Prefect from last year, spoke up from the fireplace.  "That girl has a chip the size of England on her shoulder."

            "It doesn't excuse her though," Sarah Black said from the table behind her brother and his friends.

            "It may not, but she's got a chip on her shoulder.  Her mother's death, then her father's wayward allegiances."

            "Her wayward allegiances," Sirius muttered.

            "Her mother…" Lily suddenly whispered, before looking up at the general audience.  "How did her mother die?"  Lily had been told it was a heart attack, but now Lily wondered if it was something more, something to do with magic.

            Julie took the initiative to answer.  "Her mother was an Unspeakable for America.  One of the best.  Anyway, she had a lab in the basement of their house.  One night, she was working in it, and it exploded.  No one's quite sure what went wrong, but something did."

            "I heard that it was Jessica that found her," Alice said.

            But Frank contradicted, "I heard it was Casey."

            Julie shook her head.  "It was both of them.  Dad had just become Minister then.  I remember hearing him talk about it.  It wasn't that long ago.  Something like 5 years ago."

            Oh my gosh, Lily thought to herself.  Jessica and Casey had found her.  How hard that must have been…and she had to not only suffer that, but she had to lie to Lily, something Jessica said time and again she hated doing to Lily.

            "Is everything alright, Lil?"

            Lily glanced up in startlement at Alice.  "Yeah, I'm alright.  That's just so sad."

            Alice nodded.  "I know.  But it's just a danger with an Unspeakable.  At least it was only death."

            "At least it was only death?"  Lily asked, in shock of her friend's careless dismissal.

            "Lil," Alice said, almost as if Lily had missed something obvious.  "With magic, there are many other ways you could end up.  Trust me, if you can't be fully functional, many times you almost would much rather be dead than other things."  As Alice went back to her homework, she said, "There was that one Unspeakable that my dad was working with, George something or other.  Well I remember when I was waiting for Dad in his office one time there was this loud explosion.  I'll never forget watching that guy walking out of the room down the hall."  Alice shivered before looking back up at Lily.  "Scariest thing.  He was walking around, this blank look on his face.  He seemed to know people when they walked up, but it was like he was unsure of who they were.  Couldn't speak or anything.  Saddest thing.  I never want that to happen to me.  Would rather be dead…"

*          *          *

            A little over a week later, Severus and Jessica sat side-by-side listening to Jeff Rin talk about what would occur when they tried out for their positions on the Slytherin Quidditch team.  The current Slytherin Quidditch team was made up of Jeff Rin, their sole Beater now; Bellatrix Black, Rodolophus Lestrange, and Evan Rosier, all three Chasers; and finally Mitchell Avery, the Keeper.  The team stood behind Jeff, sneering at the kids who had gathered to try-out.  

            The kids who had decided to brave the game were her, Severus (after much prodding), Lucius Malfoy, Rabastan Lestrange (all from her year), a Sixth Year named Richard Mulciber, a Fourth Year named Antonin Dolohov, and a Fifth Year named Walden Macnair.  Idly Jessica noticed that she was the only girl trying out, and she also noticed that Bellatrix was the only girl currently on the Slytherin team.  Oh, now, that would be interesting: her and Bellatrix being the only girls on the team…Jessica eyed the girl and cringed inwardly.

            It wasn't long though, and they were in the air one at a time.

            First, it was the Beater try-out.  When it was Severus' turn, Jessica watched with trepidation.  Even though she had told him to practice over the summer, she had wondered if he actually did.  She knew that she had pushed him into this, and she suddenly felt extremely guilty.  

But the feeling was nothing compared to what happened during his time in the air.  

Rodolophus kept hitting Bludgers to Jeff, who would then hit them to Severus.  It would have been bad if Severus just had merely swung and missed all of them.  If that had been the only thing he was doing.  But no.  If he had just been swinging even though they were ten meters away, though a little worse, it would have been good compared to what actually went on.  Jessica couldn't think of something worse than what went on.  Maybe if his broom went out of control and plummeted to the earth…

            But that didn't happen.  What happened was that every time Severus took a swing, he put his whole body weight into it (and then some to get the momentum he was getting).  When he missed, which he did every time, he swung…the whole way…around…in a circle.  Every.  Single.  Time.

            No one bothered to hide their mirth, even when Severus descended and started the long walk to the school, not even waiting for any results.  There were only two people that had no mirth to hide.  One was sitting on a broom high above the crowd, watching the boy walk away, his expression sympathetic.  The other was the girl that Severus stopped to whisper to.

            "Don't ever talk to me again."

*          *          *

            Jessica dragged herself into the Common Room.  The try-outs had ended four hours ago, but she hadn't had the heart to come back right away.  Instead, she made a feeble continue of her search for the portrait.  She hadn't really looked at all, but at least she had an excuse to chicken out of facing Severus right away.

            She was surprised at the array of people in the Common Room.  Well, only three people.  Bertie Magal sat at the table on one side of the room.  Casey was lying on the floor in middle of the room.  He seemed to have been reading, but his head lay on the book now, eyes closed, and he was snoring softly.  And then Jim Jones sat up on one of the sofas in front of the fire.  He was reading.  They were the only three people in the room.  When Jessica entered, Jim and Bertie looked up at her.

            "Hey, little guy," Bertie said a little loudly, but not too loud.

            Casey snorted himself into awareness, causing a faint smile to light Jessica's lips for but a second.  Casey looked around, unsure of his surroundings for a minute, before he spotted Jessica.

            "How'd it go?"  He asked.

            "Seeker," she whispered.

            Casey gave her a huge smile.  "Congratulations."

            "That means that Malfoy didn't get it," Bertie said, almost a little too excitedly, causing Jessica to give her a curious glance.

            "It took you until now to figure that out, Magal?"  Jim asked dryly, almost startlingly Jessica.  This was the first time she had heard the boy speak.  "I thought it was a dead giveaway when Malfoy blew half the books off the bookshelf over there."

            "Only half?"  Jessica asked, earning herself a smirk from Jim.  Jessica smiled back at him before looking at each kid again.  "What are y'all doing up anyway?"

            Bertie looked down at the table as though to remind herself.  "Uh, Charms homework."

            Jessica looked at Casey, who spoke unashamedly.  "Waiting for you."

            Jessica's eyes moved to Jim, who shrugged.  "I don't sleep much.  Never have."

            "Uh, Jess," Casey said.  She looked at her brother.  He waited a minute before saying, "How mad is he at you?"  
            Jessica looked away.  "I'll be surprised if he ever talks to me again."

            Casey frowned then.  She knew her brother had started to like Severus.  But, as siblings, Severus would probably avoid him as well as her.  Casey was, again, guilty by association.

            "Yeah, I don't get that.  Why would Severus be mad at _you_?"  Bertie said.  Jim was also giving her a curious look.

            Jessica shrugged, looking away from both of them as well.  "I sort of bullied him into trying out.  I knew he would never do it on his own, but I thought he would be good.  I still think he would, with a little practice…"

            Jim snorted.  "Not with his mum.  She seems to think there's only one use for him, and that's not practicing Quidditch."

            Jessica's gaze swung and latched on the little First Year.  "What?" she asked sharply.

            Jim suddenly realized what he had said.  He started to look back down, but Jessica started to advance on him.  "You're not shutting up now, Jones.  What do you know?"  
            Jim gave her a nervous glance.  "I thought you already knew, Ziners, being friends with him and all."

            "All I know is his mom hurts him somehow.  It's the woe of many in this House, though some have it worse than others.  I figured something was going on, but your hint there sounds much more devious than I first thought."

            Jim shook his head, quickly understanding what she had interpreted from his comment.  "No, not that.  It's the potions.  Salazar said something, and then I sort of figured out the rest from there.  It's why he always looks sick."

            "What is it, Jones?"  Jessica pressed.

            "Figure it out, Ziners," Jim said sharply.  "She's a Potions Mistress, and she has a boy that she doesn't like.  From the sounds of it, the father seems to prefer him to her.  So, what do you do to get back at your husband?"

            When Jessica still gave him a blank look, Jim growled, "And you're inventing all sorts of nasty potions you don't want the ministry to find out about, but you need someone—"

            "To test it on," Casey finished, startling Jessica.  Her brother had gotten up during her confrontation with Jim and now stood beside her.

            Jim nodded.  "Exactly."

            "But what about the dad?  Hasn't he figured anything out yet?"  Jessica asked.

            "Rebella may be the Death Eater slut and her ego may fill the whole Guthrie Manor," her brother said bitterly, comparing her to the Manor that the Snapes resided in, "but she's not dumb.  You said Severus' dad is away a lot.  She wouldn't do it when he was around."

            "But why doesn't he tell his dad?"  Jessica pressed, but the other three in the room could see her quickly answer her own question.

            Murder as blackmail.  Both Jessica and Casey looked at each other.  They knew that weapon all too well.

*          *          *

            The next night, the Quidditch Pitch saw another try-out.  This time, it was the Gryffindors.

            The group sitting behind Julie Rin as she talked were a lot friendlier looking than the Slytherin team.  There was Julie, a Gryffindor Beater; Jim Masterhead, the other Beater; Lynn Reger, Andrew Bella, and Hunter Hosen, all three Chasers; and Grant Havee, the Keeper.

            There were only two people trying out for Seeker.  The rest of the Gryffindor Second Years, however, all gathered to watch with great amusement.  Since the incident with Snape a few weeks ago, Lily and James constantly yelled at each other.  The fact that both also had wanted the Seeker position since the end of last school year never ceased to cause laughter amongst the rest of the Second Years.

            The team had already warmed up, so they started a pretend match after they sent the Seeker up into the air.  James was the first up.  He could have had the Snitch after seventeen minutes, but Julie's well-placed Bludger hindered that, and James pulled out of the dive for safety's sake.  It wasn't but three minutes later though that he victoriously claimed the Snitch.

            "Good job, Potter!"  Julie yelled.  She and Potter landed, and he handed over the Snitch.  Julie waited until Evans was a good ways in the air before releasing the little gold ball, and then taking off again herself.  Both Julie and Masterhead kept an eye on Evans.  Once Julie was sure the Second Year had spotted the Snitch and was diving for it, she nodded at Masterhead, who slammed a Bludger Julie's direction.  She hit it, and it sailed for Evans.  Lily spotted it out of the corner of her eye, but instead of pulling out as James had done, she kicked her broom ahead with a new burst of speed.  Evans caught the Snitch, the Bludger brushing against the very tips of the straws at the end of her broom.

            When Lily landed, a huge smile on her lips, the Gryffindor team quickly landing themselves, Julie said, "Outstanding, Evans!  Only fifteen minutes!"

            Julie looked over to notice that not only had James' jaw hit the floor, but so had Sirius', Remus', Frank's, and Peter's.  Lily and the rest of the Gryffindor girls giggled just about bursting in their glee.  Julie glanced at her team.  They all nodded towards Lily.  She turned to the girl.

            "Well, I guess we have our new Seeker.  Congratulations, Lily."  Gosh, she hated this next part, but Julie knew she had to do it.  "Good try, James.  You were excellent.  You'll be our reserve Seeker…" Julie trailed off as James turned to stomp towards the castle, Sirius immediately following him, Remus hesitating before joining.  Peter stayed rooted into his spot, his eyes now giving Lily an admiring look.  Frank came forward to congratulate Lily with the rest of the Gryffindor girls and the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

            As the group started back towards the castle to celebrate their new Seeker, the team in bright spirits at such an excellent player, Julie caught up with Lily, who had seemed a little down about James' reaction.

            "Don't worry about Potter, Evans," Julie said.  "He's just sore a girl's better than him."

            Lily gave her a smile.

            "He'll get over it," Julie continued.  "They always do."

            Lily laughed.

*          *          *

_Lily-_

_            CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wish I could hug you, but I can't.  My mom use to have this saying; I'll say it now even though I think it's corny, "Wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze."  She said it was a long distance hug.  So there you go, a long distance hug._

_            I made Seeker too if you haven't heard.  It's cool, but it kind of sucks we're going to be going head to head.  No matter what, we're friends forever, but I will hold nothing back and expect you not to either._

_            Thanks for the note about Severus.  He was quiet after that incident, but I did as you said.  I didn't go beat the crap out of Sirius and James (though I wanted to).  I just "comforted" Sev (the way you comfort Severus is to leave him alone for a day, then slowly start to warm up to him with a well-placed joke here and there).  Anyway, there are bigger problems now._

_            I bugged Severus into trying out as the new Slytherin Beater.  Though I knew he needed some work, I didn't think he needed THAT MUCH WORK.  The try-out was horrible.  I won't even go into detail about the incident because it's horrid to remember.  Let's just say he didn't make Beater, a lot of people laughed at him, and he told me to never talk to him again.  I've been leaving him alone because I don't deserve to talk to him again.  Lily!  It sucks!  I feel worse than horrible for pushing him into the try-out, but it's nothing compared to not talking to him.  He even leaves the library when I walk in!  He hates me now.  The worse part is I deserve it._

_            I've got to get back to my homework.  Congratulations again._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Jess_

*          *          *

            Severus glanced up when someone sat across from him at the lunch table.  He was surprised to see Lucius Malfoy looking at him.  The boy didn't say anything but started dishing out his food.  Mavis Goyle and Brent Crabbe flanked his sides, and Rabastan, the last boy in their house, sat next to Severus.

            The four engaged in a conversation as Severus continued his lunch while reading his Transfiguration textbook.  Suddenly though, the four lapsed into silence, catching Severus' attention.  He looked up to see them all looking at him expectantly.

            "What?"  Severus asked sharply.

            Undaunted, Rabastan repeated, "So you gonna practice and maybe try out for Jeff Rin's position when he graduates in 2 years?"

            Severus shook his head and went back to his book.

            "Why not?"  Rabastan pressed.  "With a bit of practice, you'll get it.  Maybe we could set up a practice, just me and you…"

            Severus gave him a surprised glance, to which the boy shrugged.  "Couldn't hurt to get a damn good Beater before Jeff leaves."

            Severus bit back his happiness.  Someone was accepting him?  Someone other than Ziners?  At the thought of her, his eyes shot down the table where she was sitting with Narcissa and the rest of the girls from her dorm.  Casey was even further down, finally having been partly accepted by the boys from his dorm.  Severus looked back at Rabastan.

            "Sounds good.  Let's wait until after the first game, so we can figure out how best to fit in a practice."

            Rabastan nodded.  "Sounds good to me.  Anyway, it'll help for me to get a bit more use to the position before I start helping someone else.  I would have rather been Chaser, that's what I'm usually in our games," he nodded towards Malfoy, "but I just wanted on the team bad enough I was willing to settle for Beater for now."

            "If I was willing to settle for less," Malfoy sneered, "I would have beaten you for Beater.  But instead, I will settle for nothing but the best."

            Here, Rabastan gave a gruesome half grin.  "And your best, Malfoy, didn't hold a hope and a prayer of passing Ziners' best."

            Goyle and Crabbe burst out laughing but two well-placed Malfoy glares had them shutting up.

*          *          *

            "He's back to the book again."

            "Remus, get away from the book.  It's the weekend.  RELAX!"  James Potter said to their brown haired friend.  The three were lounging outside by the lake.  James and Sirius had been playing around with the toad that one of Sirius' aunts had given him early last school year.  They were trying to enchant it to do different things.  Meanwhile, Remus, who had been going from watching to reading, was leaning against a nearby tree.  His friends had been giving him a hard time for reading a book other than his school textbooks.

            "This is completely fascinating," Remus looked up at them, but it appeared he had no idea that they had just spoken to him.  "A Basilisk 'is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad,'" he read, almost reverently.  (Author's note: the part of Remus' spoken sentence enclosed in apostrophes is a direct quote from Chamber of Secrets.) 

            The boys shook their head at him before looking back at the toad.

            "What the…?"  Sirius started to say as they looked at their now orange toad.

            As Sirius changed it back, James glanced around to see if anybody nearby might have done something.  He didn't see anyone…until his eyes stopped at Jessica by a tree a ways down.  She was still holding two fingers in their general direction as she leaned against a tree herself, a book in her lap.  She smirked at James, but he fought the urge to nod at her.  Then his eyes spotted Severus Snape just exiting the castle with the rest of the Second Year Slytherin boys.  What?  James thought Snape always hung out with Jessica because the others didn't give him the time of day.  James looked back at Jessica.  She had obviously noticed where his attention had gone and what he was thinking.  She shrugged at him and went back to her book.

            "Whatcha looking at?"  Sirius asked, glancing over his shoulder.

            "Nothing," James quickly said as he looked back at the frog.

            "I'm going to go start in on that Transfiguration essay," Remus suddenly announced, standing up before grabbing his bag and starting towards the castle.  "See you guys inside."

            They nodded at him before going back to their task.  A few minutes passed before Sirius spoke of something other than the many ways they could use the toad to pull a practical joke on the Slytherins.

            "You know, James, I've been thinking about Remus.  You know, his weird disappearances."

            James nodded.  The two had noticed that their friend had disappeared once a month.  He had a variety of excuses, some he used twice, and some only once.  But something always occurred once a month, which had James and Sirius both questioning the validity of the excuses.  They had since brought in their kind of fourth friend Peter, who had locked himself up in Gryffindor tower this weekend in attempt to finish the Charms essay that was due last week and the Transfiguration essay due Monday.  Peter had no idea why Remus disappeared other than to observe that he would return sore, bruised, and a bit scratched up.

            "I've sort of put some more thought into it, and for some reason I just glanced at a calendar," Sirius said.  "The last two times he went missing last year…"

            "Yeah?"  James prompted when Sirius stopped.

            Sirius looked up at him and took a minute before whispering, "They were during full moons."

*          *          *

_Jess-_

_            Congratulations yourself!!  How exciting.  And you had better watch yourself, because I will most certainly not hold anything back.  But we're always friends, no matter what happens._

_            About Severus – I'm sorry.  That sucks.  You do get kind of pushy, but that's you.  Don't change for a boy.  No matter what, don't change for a boy.  Anyway, it looks like you've got yourself some other friends (though I can't believe you're hanging out with Narcissa)._

_            I'm having problems with James Potter myself.  It was only him and I trying out for Seeker.  I beat him, and now he, Sirius, and Remus (though I don't think Remus wants to) are trying to annoy me any chance they get.  Just tonight, they sent Sirius' toad across my Transfiguration assignment, smearing the ink.  I have to write the thing over again.  Urgh!  I would have told Professor McGonagall on them, but I suppose that would only make things worse._

_            I'm nervous for the first Quidditch match.  I can't believe its Gryffindor against Slytherin!  Tell me you're as nervous as I am, so I know that we'll have the same problems facing us at the match._

_            Hope everything else is going all right.  Oh, one more thing about Severus – I'll tell you the same thing Julie Rin told me about James.  He'll get over it.  They always do._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Lily_

            Lily folded the letter into an envelope and, after assuring herself that she was alone in the dorm room, attached and hid it on Crookshanks' side.  She grabbed the cat when he went to trodoff alone.  Ever since the Quidditch try-outs, she had been more careful with Crookshanks going off alone.  She was worried that James and Sirius would try something with the cat in their escapades to annoy her.  So Lily grabbed the cat and brought it down herself.

            When she reentered the Common Room, Sarah Black was griping loudly to her brother and his friends about Casey Ziners.  Lily listened as she went to let out Crookshanks.

            "The boy is a jerk!  It takes two seconds for him to make a potion, and the rest of the time, he spends trying to blow up others' potions behind Rum's back.  The old freak knows he's doing it but won't stop him 'cause he's a _Slytherin_," she spit out the last word as though it left a bad taste in her mouth.

            "Welcome to the world of Slytherins and Potions, Sis," Sirius said unenthusiastically.

            "But get this, Sirius, he's a freak also.  In that stupid double Defense Against the Dark Arts we have to have with the Slytherins – we were doing a Disarming Spell.  Ziners kept rolling his eyes behind Medley's back.  Finally, Medley caught him doing it and asked him if he thought he could easily do the Disarming Spell himself, to which Casey said that he could.  Medley had him do it on him.  The boy blew him half way across the room!"

            "He did not, Black!"  Fabian Prewett yelled from over by the fire.  Fabian was tall for a First Year and mouthier than most.  His brother, a Fourth Year, was the same way.  Both brothers looked a lot alike, straw colored hair, tall, not overweight but not skinny either, and had brown eyes.  "Just blew him on his bum!"

            "Still!"  Sarah responded.  "That little maggot blew a full grown wizard on his bum!  You know how he did it, right?"  
            "Dark magic?"  Fabian said with sarcastic horror, and then followed it up seriously with, "Medley very well knows that the Ziners' know dark magic, yet he asked Casey Ziners to do it, so, in my opinion, he was asking for it."

            "What if it was the Killing Curse instead?"  Sarah bit back.  "You think he would have deserved it then?"

            "Shut up, Black!"  Fabian said.  "You know Medley's smarter than _that_."

            "Well," Sirius said loudly enough to stop both, "I have spent enough of my Saturday evening speaking about Ziners."

            "Going to finally get going on the Transfiguration essay, Sirius?"  Alice asked with a smile.

            "Oh, bloody hell no," Sirius waved a hand at her.  "Got more important things to do."

            Sirius nodded towards the entryway of the Common Room.  "James?"  
            James nodded.  "Remus, wanna come?"

            Remus looked at the two as though he was asking a silent question.  They nodded, grins on both of their faces.  Remus thought a minute before saying, "No, I've really got to finish this."  He nodded towards his essay.

            "Boring, Remus.  You're turning into a boring, ol' git," Sirius said before the two took off.  Remus chuckled.

*          *          *

            Later that month, school was well underway, and the Quidditch teams of Gryffindor and Slytherin were preparing for their first match that was to occur within two weeks.  But late one Sunday night, someone was missing from the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Where's Remus?"  Frank asked suddenly, looking at Sirius, James, and Peter.  He had been reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ in preparation for the game at the end of next week, but he had glanced at his watch to notice it was 11 p.m. and Remus hadn't shown up in the Common Room all night.

            "Mum's sick.  Went home," Sirius said as he perused through a spell book to find something else to do to his toad.  Frank went back to his book unawares, but Sirius and James suddenly looked at each other.  Peter gave them a questioning look before James whispered to him.

            "Another excuse to be gone."

            Peter nodded as though he understood, but when he looked away, he still appeared puzzled.

            Sirius glanced at Gideon Prewett, Fabian's brother.  He was one table down.  He had been grumbling not five minutes ago about his Divination assignment on planetary alignments.  James could see the spark on Sirius' face as he got an idea.

            "Hey, Gideon," Sirius asked in a detached voice.  "When's the next full moon?"

            "What?"  Gideon said, almost angrily.

            "When's the next full moon?"  Sirius repeated, a little more cautiously.

            "Why do you care?"  
            "I was reading something here," Sirius nodded towards his book, "and I got curious.  When's the next moon?"

            Gideon glanced at his parchment before looking at his book dumbly for a moment.  His girlfriend, Lauren Melbrook, another Fourth Year, pointed at something on his parchment.

            "Oh," Gideon said before reading for a second.  "It's October 22."

            "Tonight in other words," Lauren laughed at her tired boyfriend.

            Sirius and James looked at each other a minute before Sirius murmured, "Thanks."

*          *          *          

            "You come to watch the Quidditch game?"

            Severus turned to the voice in surprise.  Casey was looking up at him.  Severus had at least four inches on the boy.

            "Yes," Severus said quietly before trying to move away.

            "But not Jessica," Casey said without moving.  The words were meant to make Severus pause in his retreat, and they worked like a charm.

            "No, not Jessica," he clarified.  "I have other friends now, and one is playing in this game."  Severus turned to retreat again, but stopped when Casey spoke yet again, but this time, there was a chill in his voice that Severus had never heard before.

            "Just clarifying there, Snape."

            He glanced at Casey to see the boy's hazel eyes giving him a cold look before he turned to sit with Salazar and the rest of the First Year boys.

            Severus stood there a minute before he saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walk in.  "Over here, Severus," Malfoy said.  They all sat down together, at least two groups of friends between Severus and Casey.  Casey never looked at Severus once during the game.

*          *          *

            James tried not to notice them staring when he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat next to them.  But it was hard not to notice four girls gawking at you like you had grown a second head.  It was the other four girls in Lily's dorm: Alice Bolmond, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows, and Kelly Brier.  

            Finally, he glared at them.  "We're here in support of Frank since this is his first time announcing!  And in support of the team, even though _she's_ on it!"

            "Mmm-Hmm," they all said in unison and turned to look back at the Pitch and talk amongst themselves.

            "Girls!"  James groaned as he and his friends sat.

            "Hey, guys," Hagrid bellowed as he joined them, taking a seat next to Peter, nearly squishing him to death next to Remus.  James and Sirius quickly took a seat up one so Remus and Peter could move down to make room for Hagrid.  Hagrid apologized, but the boys waved it off.

            "I've come ter see Lily as the new Seeker," Hagrid informed them.

            James slapped a hand over his eyes.

            "James, you're being a baby!"  Alice said to him.  "Lily is pretty good you've got to admit, especially since she hasn't been zipping around on a broom her whole life like you have.  Give her some credit!"

            "Yeah," Marlene joined in.  "Give her some credit finally."

            "Have you even watched her practice?"  Dorcas asked.  "She's pretty good.  You are too James.  She had some daredevil luck at the try-outs.  If she hadn't, Julie would have had to pick her or you based on something other than talent.  She just had luck that night, and you didn't."

            "What's more than that," Kelly said, "is that it was daredevil luck.  Let's just hope that she doesn't try it again, because that Bludger could hit for real this time!"  Kelly's voice squealed with fear at the end.  
            Alice patted Kelly on the back.  "She's been worried about this game more than Lily has," Alice informed the boys.

            The three others boys looked at James to see him smirk at the overly worried 12-year old.  The other boys felt they could join in the smile as well then.

            "You know, Kelly," James finally said.  "It's just the danger with Quidditch, getting hit by a Bludger.  It'll probably happen more than once in Lily's career on the team, but she'll be alright."

            "Yeah," Sirius agreed before saying to James, "Remember that one time we were playing in my yard, and the Bludger smashed me in the face and broke my nose."

            Both boys started laughing at the memory, earning themselves a horrified look from Kelly and a stern one from Alice.  Remus laughed at the looks, followed by Peter, but he only seemed to join in the laughing because the other boys were doing it.

*          *          *

            "Nervous, Jessica, Rabastan?"  Jeff asked.

            "No, not at all," Jessica said.  Her voice may have been shaky, but no one could mistake her sarcasm.  

            Jeff smiled and looked over at Rabastan, who gestured towards Jessica.  "Same here," he croaked.

            The team burst into laughter, but Jeff quieted them down, though he seemed to find the two Second Years just as amusing as they did.

            As they started out of the changing rooms, Jeff walked with the two.  "Don't worry.  It's going to be all right.  You," he pointed at Rabastan, "just keep the Bludgers away from us, the ones in green.  Try to aim for the ones in scarlet, but don't worry about that too much yet.  Just don't hit them _at_ _us_ while trying to keep them _from_ _us_.  Got it?"

            Rabastan nodded.

            Jeff turned to Jessica.  "You.  Just worry about the Snitch and the score.  The sooner you catch it, the better, but if it's taking you a bit—"  

            "Which it better not!"  Rodolophus Lestrange, Rabastan's older brother, yelled from behind them.

            Jeff glanced over his shoulder to give Rodolophus a look (to which the boy sneered at) before turning back to Jessica.  "If it takes you a bit, make sure only to catch the Snitch when we're either in the lead or if the Snitch will definitely put us in the lead.  Got it?"

            Jessica nodded as they emerged onto the Quidditch Pitch.  The Slytherins and the Gryffindors all gathered in the middle.  Madam Hooch was referring.  She looked between Julie Rin and Jeff Rin to see the twins giving each other challenging glares.

            "Fair game, the both of you," Hooch said and waited until she got a nod from both before saying, "Mount your brooms!"

*          *          *

            "Ladies and Gentlemen," Frank Longbottom started in quickly but smoothly, "And the game gets right off with Gryffindor Chaser Andrew Bella grabbing the Quaffle.  Bella is a sturdy Fifth Year with a great arm I must say…And there he goes using it.  Ahh!"  Frank yelled along with the rest of the Gryffindors.  "Slytherin Keeper Mitchell Avery makes a fantastic block on the far hoop…and Slytherin's Black grabs the Quaffle and is off racing towards the Gryffindor end, Rosier and the older Lestrange acting as her escorts.  The younger Lestrange makes an awesome save of Black's head, blocking the Bludger with his bat…but now the Bludger is hit up, narrowly missing the Slytherin's new Seeker, Ziners!  The Bludger is now coming down after her…wow, that was some good maneuvering…Slytherin's Rin hits it toward Gryffindor's Rin…And it misses Julie by mere inches!  Meanwhile, Gryffindor's Chaser Hosen and Slytherin's Chaser Black seem to be in a fight for the Quaffle…but it's dropped!  And Gryffindor's Chaser Reger saves it with a nice swoop!  She's off to the other end now like a shot of lightening!  Can the Slytherins catch up to her?  And—wow!  Where did that Bludger come from?!  Nearly missed taking off Avery's head!  Reger scores!!!"

            The Gryffindor section of the audience went up in cheers, and Frank didn't bother to bite back his smile when next to him McGonagall let out a squeal of delight.  But Frank had to carry on announcing as the game continued…

*          *          *

            Jessica made slow circles above the Pitch as she leaned close to her broom.  She fervently searched below for the Snitch but couldn't see it anywhere.  Lily was doing the same thing as her, but farther over.

            Jessica decided a different tactic was needed when Gryffindor scored three more times to Slytherin's one…

*          *          *

            "Meanwhile, Slytherin's Seeker Ziners seems to be descending a bit in her search for the Snitch, who has yet to appear in the game.  It now seems that Gryffindor's Seeker Evans is following as well…"

*          *          *

            As the play moved down the Pitch, Jessica swung around the hoops at Slytherin's end.

            "What are you doing?" Avery asked.

            "Dancing, you?"  She gave him a glare as she gave the sarcastic response to his stupid question.  She shook her head at his own glare before glancing down Pitch.  The action started to come back this way, but Jessica decided to go down instead of up.  She watched the action for a second on her way down.  Suddenly though, she noticed something lagging behind the group…

*          *          *

            "And Avery makes a save at the hoops, and the Quaffle makes another descent…wait a minute…Ziners sees the Snitch!!"  Frank watched Jessica make a race down towards the Gryffindor hoops, but he knew that's not what her aim was because dead center of the Pitch at his eye level was the Snitch.  It started to race back toward the Gryffindor end as Lily started after it too, and soon the Seekers were neck to neck…

*          *          *

            Jessica didn't even glance at Lily as she kept her eyes on the Snitch.  Suddenly, it faked a left but swung right and up, right into her path…

*          *          *

            "Ziners is about to get it!  Ah, no!  She missed it by mere millimeters!"

*          *          *

Both girls recovered at about the same time and followed the Snitch as it started back towards the Slytherin end.  Play had resumed there, but everyone was trying to keep an eye on the Seekers as well, especially considering that they were now heading into the center of play.  Play stopped, as Rodolophus held the Quaffle dumbly at his side.

            As the girls zoomed in, players started to move, but stopped when Jessica yelled, "Don't move!!"

            This caused everyone to become stock still as the girls zoomed around them in an attempt to get the darting Snitch.  It flew around Julie Rin's head before diving below Andrew Bella's broom and in front of Rodolophus.  It was when it ducked around the somewhat stocky Rosier that it seemed to disappear.  Both girls flew around him twice but couldn't find anything.  They sighed then glanced at each other before looking around the two still teams.  Suddenly, Jessica spotted it.  She didn't move except to stare at Jeff Rin.  He understood her silent communication and kept still.

            "Well, I guess…" Lily started to say just as Jessica zoomed around Rosier and straight at the flying device by Jeff Rin's head.  She grabbed it out of the air just as it started to take off.

            Everyone in the stadium was quiet, unsure of what went on, until Frank said:      

            "And this game is over!  Slytherin wins 160 to 40!"

            As the Slytherin section burst into applause, Jessica held up the Snitch victoriously.

            The Slytherin team converged on her still in midair, but Jessica was able to spare Lily a glance.  Lily gave her a soft, defeated smile before she and the Gryffindors descended.  Jessica gave her a sympathetic look before the Slytherins started giving her high fives and patting her on the back, nearly knocking her off her broom.

*          *          *

            Back in the changing rooms, after the Gryffindors had changed out of their uniforms, Julie called a meeting.  "Okay, I know tonight was a tough loss.  It's always tough against the Slytherins.  But I just wanted to congratulate our new Seeker.  I don't know about you guys, but I thought she did a good job for her first game."  The team gave tired nods.

            "You and Ziners were neck-in-neck for the Snitch," Julie continued, looking specifically at the depressed Lily.  "She just got the Snitch before you by sheer dumb luck."

            Lily nodded, the dark mood seeming to lessen only a little bit.

            "Okay," Julie clapped her hands together as though done.  "That's all."  The team got up with tired groans.  "Oh, one more thing," Julie said, earning herself a few glares, "you all watch over Evans.  If Potter or his cretins harass her, I want you all there backing her up."  
            Everyone smiled and nodded, Lynn Reger giving Lily a pat on the back.  Lily gave a small smile to her then Julie.  "Thanks," she whispered.

            Julie smiled and nodded.

*          *          *

            On the way back up to the castle though, Lily got a pat on the back from James Potter.  The team looked at him as though daring him to do something.  He gave them a curious look before saying, "Good job, Evans.  Ziners had luck on her side this time.  Next time, she won't."

            He gave her a smile before casting another curious glance over the team, who was still looking at him, before he ran off with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  Lily looked back at the team to see them burst into smiles and chuckles.  Julie grinned.  "I think he got over it finally."

            Lily nodded.  "I hope so," she said just as the Gryffindor Second Year girls ran up to her.

*          *          *

            In the Slytherin Common Room, it didn't take long for a party to get into full swing.  Jessica was getting pats on the back wherever she went, and people were congratulating her.  Everyone was talking about their prospects at winning the Quidditch Cup this year, something they had secured for the last 3 years.

            Jessica had just finished talking with Rabastan and Rodolophus when she noticed Severus staring at her.  He was sitting next to Lucius, Goyle, and Crabbe having a butterbeer.  She smiled and nodded at him.  Without acknowledging, he went back to his conversation with Malfoy.  Jessica sighed.

            "That was great," came a laugh next to her.

            Jessica turned and grinned at Casey.

            "Yeah, Jessica," Salazar patted her on the back.  "We're going to cream the Gryffindors this year."

            "Like every year," Rabastan said, joining her again.

            Jessica chuckled.

*          *          *

            It was about 2 weeks later.  Since Jessica sat next to Severus in _every single class_, soon after their fight, when she realized things were not going to get any better, she moved to other seats.  In Potions, she now sat next to Rosemary Mavea.  In History of Magic, she switched seats with that moron Crabbe (she bet Severus loved that) and now sat next to Rabastan, behind Malfoy, and in front of Calista Andrews (otherwise, she sat on the edge of the room).  In Charms, Astronomy, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination, she now sat next to Bertie Magal.  Lastly, in DADA and Transfiguration, she now sat next to Narcissa.  Severus made no bones of the fact that he could have cared less about the new seating arrangements (well, maybe except for History of Magic).

            All this didn't help Jessica escape the fact that she missed Severus.  But she'd get over it.  She just had to watch him with his new friends to get mad at him and go to _her_ new friends.  She was already starting not to care.  Well, except for in Transfiguration…

            The Second Year Gryffindors had Transfiguration just before the Second Year Slytherins did, so it was obvious that it had been one of them.  Someone (and Jessica soon started giving herself three guesses who) had put a Sticking Charm on a certain seat before they left.

            The bell rang after the Slytherin class, and Severus went to get up.  The chair creaked and then banged down when Severus fell back into it.  He tried getting up again.  No go.  Severus started to turn red when Crabbe and Goyle started sniggering.  The sniggering caused McGonagall to look up.  It didn't take her (or the rest of the ogling class) long to figure out Severus' plight.

            McGonagall quickly got him unstuck.  While she was doing that, Jessica, who was closest to the door, heard some snickers outside the door.  She turned her head to see Sirius and James in the hallway, watching over Jessica's shoulder.

            "Black!  Potter!"  She yelled, and they took off.  McGonagall stopped her from giving chase.

            "I will speak with Misters Black and Potter, Miss Ziners," she informed Jessica and the rest of the class, "but since no one saw anything, I cannot punish them or take away house points."

            The class groaned, moaned, and grumbled angrily as they left.  Severus still was sporting a shade of pink as his friends ribbed him about the incident.  When Jessica spotted the hoodlums down the hall though, she decided to turn their attention.  "Hey, guys!"  She whispered loudly.  Nothing.  "Malfoy!"  She yelled in his ear.

            He jumped.  "What, Ziners?"  He growled.

            She pointed at Black and Potter, now surrounded by Lupin, Petigrew, Longbottom, and a few Hufflepuff boys.  They all seemed in an animated conversation.  When they heard Jessica yell at Malfoy, they turned.  All of the boys cracked up laughing when they spotted Severus and a few pointed.

            "Time to teach them a lesson for harassing one of our number, you think?"  Rabastan asked.  The Slytherins nodded.  They started for the group.  It was when Jessica spotted Lily and the rest of the Gryffindor girls come out of the Charms classroom that Jessica stopped the Slytherin girls.

            "Let's let the guys handle this," Jessica said suddenly when she got the curious gazes of the Slytherin girls.  When Jessica turned back to Lily, she had noticed her friend had quickly assessed the situation.  Lily's green eyes turned curiously to Jessica.  Jessica didn't nod or anything, but just turned to the confrontation in time to see Rabastan push James.

            It took two seconds for a brawl to start, and about four teachers to put a stop to it…

*          *          *

            Jessica wasn't surprised to see Bertie Magal walk in to the Slytherin Common Room, Crookshanks nestled in her arms.  She handed the cat over to Jessica.

            "He was waiting outside the dungeon doors, waiting for someone to open them," Bertie explained.

            Jessica nodded.  "Thanks," she said before standing up.  "Can you watch my homework?"  Bertie nodded as she took a spot across from Jessica's homework, next to Narcissa.

            Jessica ran up the stairs to the dormitory and threw herself and the cat on the bed before she took the note off Crookshanks.  The cat crawled up on Jessica's pillow and promptly went to sleep.

_Jess-_

_            Those stupid boys and that stupid fight.  I can't believe them.  Every Second Year Gryffindor boy has one week detention.  It serves them right._

_            I've got to ask you something.  James said that he thinks you provoked the fight to get back at them for what they did (putting the Sticking Charm on the seat).  Now, if it were Sirius saying that, I wouldn't have given it another thought, because he just likes to rag on you, but James isn't like that when it comes to you (only God knows why though.  He rags on every other Slytherin).  But, James did indeed say he thinks you provoked the fight.  I must say that I wonder myself with what I saw of the fight.  Did you provoke the fight?  You got a lot of people in trouble if you did._

_                                                                                                                        Your Friend,_

_                                                                                                                                    Lily_

*          *          *

            Lily was surprised to see Crookshanks crawl into the Gryffindor Common Room after James.  She had written to Jessica not an hour ago, and she had already gotten a response?  Lily grabbed the cat and took off upstairs.  Beginning to get use to this, Alice watched over her stuff without being asked.

            Lily took the note from Crookshanks before the cat collapsed onto the bed and fell immediately asleep.

_Lily-_

_            I didn't really do anything to provoke the fight other than spot James and Sirius outside the Transfiguration doorway, putting them together with the incident, then spotting them down the hall (BRAGGING!!), and pointing them out to the guys in my year.  They did it from there.  I did what anyone would do when protecting the honor of their house.  Plus, James and Sirius needed some consequence to their action with the Sticking Charm.  They embarrassed Severus.  They are always doing that to him.  Just picking on him unmercifully!  And they never get in trouble because no one can ever catch them in the act and Severus would rather die than tell on them, knowing it will only get him more pranks from those guys (the first time he had to say something to get his wand and books back).  Anyway, I decided if the professors aren't ever going to do anything, I've got to take matters into my own hands.  I'm sorry, Lily, but that's what I've got to do.  I'm sure you'll understand one day._

_                                                                                                Your Friend No Matter What,_

_                                                                                                                                    Jess_

            "Is everything alright?"  Dorcas Meadows asked.  Lily looked up in startlement.

            "What?"

            "Is everything alright?  You look so sad."  There was concern written on Dorcas' face.

            "Oh," Lily said, glancing down at the letter before folding it neatly.  "Yeah, I'm alright.  Just frustrated at my friend."  And before Dorcas could inquire further, Lily stuck the letter in her trunk, locked it, and then went back down to the Common Room.

*          *          *

            "Marcus!"  Adam Rin looked up in surprise at the Auror lounging in the doorway to his office.  "I thought you had already left."

            Marcus Potter glanced at his wristwatch.  "It's only 7.  Still an hour more to do work before my wife decides she needs to drag me kicking and screaming from the office."

            Adam laughed.  "That would be a sight, though I would imagine Brittany could take you."

            Marcus smiled before he gestured towards the visitor's chair.  "Can I talk to you for a minute?"  
            "Sure," Adam said quickly.  "Take a seat.  Shut the door if you feel you need to."  There were many times Marcus needed to do that, Adam knew, and the mention of it was automatic with him now.

            Marcus did indeed close the door before he sat down on the chair.  It was then that Adam noticed the man was clutching a parchment.  He glanced at it before looking at Marcus.  "What can I do for you?  Is it about Voldemort?"

            Marcus shook his head quickly.  "No, it's not…it's about a personal project of mine," he said after a pause.

            Adam dropped the memo he had been reading on the desk, seeing that the Auror was acting rather peculiar.  "What is it?"  The Minister asked in a quiet voice, giving Marcus his full attention.

            "You know I go over to America with some frequency," Marcus said after he glanced away a minute before looking back to the Minister.  Adam nodded.  "I have an easy-going friendship with Daniel Montgomery, one of the top Aurors over there."

            "Oh, that one that's the head of their special unit…the Dark Operators, right?"

            Marcus nodded.  "Yeah, him."  Marcus paused again before continuing.  "He has a niece and nephew, Jessica and Casey Ziners."

            "Jeffery Ziners' children, right?"

            Marcus nodded.  "And that's who I want to talk about.  I've gotten to know the children reasonably well during my visits there.  They have a great fascination with Aurors," Marcus gave a small smile and chuckle.  "Extremely smart too, the both of them."  he shook his head slightly.  "Anyway, I would occasionally notice something odd about their behavior."

            When Marcus gave another pause, Adam prompted, "Like what?"

            "For example, Jessica.  She is a very outgoing precocious girl.  She also has something of a mouth," Marcus chuckled and Adam smiled.  "But," Marcus said, turning serious again, "around her father, she gets nervous and quiet, almost scared.  Whenever she shows any emotion or has any outbursts, she always seems to glance nervously at her father.  I've dismissed these each time as to the fact her father is a rigid disciplinarian, but there were times I wondered…

            "Anyway, almost a year ago, Arthur Weasely came to me.  His wife Molly is Jessica's Godmother.  Jessica had spent the week before Hogwarts started with them (Jessica's attending Hogwarts by the way).  Arthur said that they had been suspecting beforehand that Jeffery might be taking his punishments with the kids a bit too far, but they only had what I had, mere suspicions.  But, during that week, they had something else…"

            "What was it?"

            "Molly accidentally walked in on Jessica in the bathroom.  Jessica had been treating some wounds across her back.  Arthur told me Molly's description…and, Adam, he perfectly described a wound from a Cruciatus."

            Adam looked at his desk for a long time, digesting this information before looking back at Marcus.  Before Adam could comment, Marcus continued.

            "And, about two months ago, I received a letter from a Lily Evans, a friend of Jessica's.  She's known Jessica her whole life.  Lily wrote to me because of my employment and position here at the Ministry.  Otherwise, Miss Evans was not sure who to write to.  Well, she told me about Jessica sometimes showing up with mysterious injuries, blaming them on ranch accidents.  She's pretty sure Jessica's lying.  I can't help but think that Miss Evans is right."

            "What do you propose?"  Adam asked when Marcus stopped talking.

            "I think if the kids were out from under their father's presence, with a promise of them not having to go back if they talk, the kids might talk.  They might tell us what's going on.  If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.  I know some relations are going to get hurt, but with children's lives possibly in danger, I honestly couldn't care less about politics right now."

            Adam looked at Marcus a long time.  He saw the determination in the man's face.

            "How sure are you, Marcus?  I want you to be positive something is going on before I let you out of the cage on this."

            "Adam," Marcus said quickly, "I think Molly's words alone are pretty damning.  I know Arthur; I know he knows what Cruciatus markings look like on the body.  He was so afraid of making this accusation in the first place; he refused to even call it for what it was!  And I looked at a branding iron when I went to the ranch this summer.  That's what Jessica blamed the injury on.  I asked one of the ranch hands about it, and I asked him what kind of injury it would make if it touches the skin.  He showed me a burn of his own from the iron.  It wasn't what Molly described.  Not one bit.  I think that, topped with not only my suspicions but the Weaselys and Lily Evans as well, is enough to go on."

            Adam took a minute before he nodded.  "I know," he said quietly looking at his desk in an effort to avoid Marcus' glare.  Adam started to say something, but stopped and looked up at Marcus.  "And just for the record, I'm not worried about the politics more than the kids.  I'm worried that if you're wrong, that could cause not only their father problems, but those kids."

            Marcus took a deep breath before nodding too.  "I believe you," he said, before handing him the parchment he had been clutching.

            "Eric Brenwith, from the legal department, told me that the kids could get removed from their home if I get you to sign this and the Secretary of Magic in America to as well."

            Adam gave Marcus a confused look.

            "Since Jessica and Casey are both attending Hogwarts, and Albus Dumbledore has his own suspicions about the kids' well-being at home, the country of the schooling can be considered an authority over the children's well-being.  In the one country, all they need is the signature of the head of magic there on an Order of Removal, but since there are two countries involved here—"

            "Two signatures are needed," Adam finished.  He read the Order of Removal in silence before picking up his quill and dipping it in ink, signing on the bottom right, where a line for his signature had been placed.

            "You realize you're going to run into some problems with the American Secretary of Magic, right?"  Adam asked when he finished and was handing the order back to Marcus.

            Marcus snorted.  "You think I'm going to have only _some _problems?  I'm thinking lots of problems, big, huge ones."

            Adam gave him a small smile.

            "I know I'll have problems with him.  I thought I'd start small first.  Practice on you."

            "Well, good luck, Marcus.  And you can tell that pea brain over in America you have my full support on this measure.  I do not tolerate child abuse of any kind."

            Marcus had been about to open the door, but turned back to Adam when he said that last part.  There had been a vehement note in his voice that Marcus had never heard before.  The face matched it.

            "Thanks," he said quietly as he opened the door.  "Don't stay too late."

            Adam smiled.  "Same to you, Marcus."

            Marcus chuckled as he started back through the outside offices.  He saw Amelia Black still working in her office however, so he walked over and stuck his head in.

            "Work-a-holic," he said, causing her to jump.  She shook her head when she noticed it was just him.

            "I could be saying the same to you," she retorted.

            "Nope, I was just leaving now actually.  Got what I wanted," he held up the parchment.

            "What's that?"  Amelia asked, eyeing it.  Marcus opened his mouth to tell her it was nothing but decided something at the last minute.

            "I might as well tell you in case it involves Hogwarts, which I'm guessing it's probably going to," Marcus said as he came in and shut the door.  "I need you to inform your husband of this…"  Marcus told her about Jessica and Casey's situation and the upcoming actions he was going to take.  It took about twenty minutes.

            "I think Malcolm will be in your corner on this," Amelia said when he finished.  "I'll talk to him tonight."

            "Okay, thanks," Marcus said.  "I'll owl your house if and when it's going to happen."

            "I'll beat that Secretary if he doesn't sign it," Amelia growled, making Marcus smile.

            Marcus left and was walking back out of the administrative area when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  He turned and stood there for a good minute, unsure of what exactly to make of what he saw.  There was a large green glowing skull conjured in front of the Minister's door.  Marcus glanced around the offices.  He was indeed still alone.  He stepped out of the area.  No one anywhere, even when he strained his ears even harder.  No sound.

            Marcus turned back to the door and started walking towards it.  His movements were slow, unsure of what would happen when he got closer to the skull.  Halfway there, he yelled out, "Amelia!"

            "What?!"  She yelled back.

            "Come out here!  Now!"

            He heard her get out of her chair before exiting her office.  "Wh…?"  She started irritably but stopped when she saw what Marcus was staring at.  "What on earth?"  She started towards it.

            Marcus reached the skull first though.  When he was a hair's breath from touching it, it vanished.  Marcus and Amelia gave each other a confused look.  Marcus knocked on the door to the Minister's office.  No response.  He opened the door.

*          *          *

            The post came in a flurry of owls the next morning.  It dropped parcels and letters everywhere before the owls waited patiently for a treat from their various masters.  Milo and A' Marie each dropped a Daily Prophet in the laps of sibling masters.  Jessica bit one more time into her apple before setting it on her plate.  She gave the passive Milo a treat before picking up the paper.

            Her heart dropped into her stomach.  She read the headline again slowly to make sure she hadn't misread it.  She and Casey's gazes clanked with each other before looking back at the headline.

_MINISTER ADAM RIN FOUND MURDERED IN HIS OFFICE_

            Jessica still didn't want to believe it so she searched out for Jeff.  He was nowhere at the table.  Jessica stood up, not caring if anyone saw her behavior as odd.  Her eyes searched up and down the Gryffindor table.  No Julie.  The twins were gone.

            Jessica sat back down and read the article, not noticing her hands were starting to shake.  

            _Late last night, assistant to the Minister of Magic Ignatius Malfoy announced to reporters that the body of Adam Rin, 52, the Minister of Magic, was found in his office.  They believe he was murdered by the use of the Killing Curse._

_            Marcus Potter, 38, the third in command of Magical Law Enforcement, and Amelia Black, 40, the other assistant to Minister Rin, discovered the body at about __7:40__ last night.  Mr. Potter was the last to see Minister Rin alive, but Mr. Malfoy assures us that Potter is not a suspect.  "At this point, we are looking to who else was in the Ministry that day, including the visitors log and who the night guards may have seen," Mr. Malfoy said._

_            Unconfirmed reports say that a large glowing green skull had appeared in front of the Minister's door, which was what alerted Mr. Potter to return to the Minister's office after a visit with Black._

_            Until a new Minister of Magic is chosen, Ignatius Malfoy will be acting Minister.  "I hope I can only live up to Minister Rin's legacy," Malfoy said._

            Jessica looked up again, her thoughts on looking for Casey, but they looked a little further than her brother when she noticed he was still reading.  Her's and Severus' eyes caught each other's.  For a second (and Jessica was sure she was fooling herself), he looked as horrified at the news as she was.  Not that many people at the Slytherin table looked surprised or horrified at the news.  But that split second she had with Severus vanished when he looked across the table when Lucius Malfoy spoke to him.

            Jessica's eyes moved back to her brother's.  He was looking at her.  He nodded towards the Entrance Hall.  Jessica nodded back.  She stuffed the paper in her bag before getting up and slinging it over her shoulder.  The other girls looked at her.

            "I'm going go get some reading done before class today," she said quietly to them before she grabbed her apple and took off out the door.  Casey joined her in a minute.

            "That's what they were talking about," he said by way of greeting.

            "What?"  She whispered, yanking him into the darkness of the main stairway.

            "That's what Dad and Mr. Malfoy were talking about that day in Knockturn, when Dad lied to us about the meeting."

            "First," she pointed at him, "I've thought about it, and I don't think he really lied to us.  Just neglected to mention the location."  Casey rolled his eyes at her.  "Second, how are we supposed to know if that's what they were talking about?"

            "What else could they have been planning?"  Casey asked.  "We know that he's wanted to come out.  That's why he introduced us this summer."

            Jessica looked away and thought for a minute.  Her brother could see her face scrunched up in anger, though he wasn't sure why at the moment.  She suddenly pulled the paper out of her bag and smacked it with the back of her hand.  "If they had been planning something of this nature, it sounded more like for Mr. Potter than him," she slapped the paper again.

            "But they were planning it for him.  We didn't even get a tenth of the conversation that day, Jess.  Who knows what they said when they went inside the shop?"

            "Who said what inside what shop?"

            Both kids jumped out of their skins.  It was Professor Medley.  Jessica was thankful her right hand, part of her right body, and her bag were behind her brother.  That allowed for her to stuff the paper back in the bag unseen.

            "Nothing," Casey and Jessica said in unison before starting to go around the stairs to head to their Common Room.

            "Did you hear about the Minister?"  Medley suddenly asked.

            Both kids stopped and turned to look at the teacher.  He was eyeing them carefully.  Jessica and Casey nodded.

            "Yeah," Jessica said, her voice showing the real depth of her sorrow.  "Did Jeff and Julie go home last night?"

            Medley nodded.  "Yeah.  They might be back before Christmas, but I don't know for sure."

            Jessica nodded and then turned, her brother following her.

            When they were walking down the dungeon hallway to their Common Room, Jessica whispered to Casey, "If that's what they were talking about, Case…do you realize what we're responsible for?"

            Casey gave her a surprised look before it dawned on him.  He shook his head quickly.  "No, we're not.  As I said, we didn't even hear a tenth of what they said.  How were we supposed to know that that was what they were up to?"

            She still didn't look convinced.

            Casey glanced at her again before stopping them a little ways from the portrait to their Common Room.  "It's like we've always said.  We can't speak without knowing that _he'll_ for sure get caught.  If we speak, we know _he'll_ find out and stop whatever it was that he was planning to do.  The then false information will make us look like idiots, we won't be believed, we won't stop _him_.  To top it off, we'll be dead."

            Jessica turned and started back towards the Common Room, but Casey did hear her last comment.

            "No, just you."

*          *          *

            "Yes, put that one over there," Rum directed Severus, who carried the cauldron for the teacher.

            "You say that the lacewing flies have to be stewed for 21 days and that the fluxweed has to be picked at full moon for the Polyjuice Potion to work effectively?"

            Gary nodded.  "That's all for now," he said before directing Severus to sit down.  He handed the boy a chocolate bar.  Severus looked at it as though he had never seen one before.

            "For all the hard work you're doing for an old man," Gary gave him a rare smile.

            Severus chuckled.

            "Now, sit and talk to me a bit," Gary said before leaning against the table one away from Severus.  

            "First," Severus said after opening the chocolate bar.  "You have to include part of the person you're turning into as well, right?"  
            Gary nodded again.

            "But it doesn't matter what part, right?  A piece of hair?  A fingernail?  Anything?"

            Gary shook his head.  "It does not matter, except that it has to be a part of their body.  It cannot be their clothes or something to that effect."

            Severus nodded as he took a bite out of his chocolate bar.

            When Severus seemed to not have any more questions, Gary started in tentatively.  "I'm not one to normally involve myself in the students' affairs, but I'm going to with you."

            Severus, who had been about to take another bite of the candy bar, stopped, letting his hand go back down.  "What?"  He asked as though he definitely didn't want to hear what would come next.

            Gary looked down, gathering his words a minute before saying, "Miss Ziners made a mistake.  She's human.  Don't hold her to a higher standard than that.  Too many people already do."

            Severus sat quietly, not looking at Gary until he said that last part.  He looked away again before saying, "She held me to a higher standard herself."

            "You're both 12.  She wanted her friend to try-out for the Quidditch team with her.  That's what kids your age do.  They want their friends to be with them in everything.  Only God knows why, but that's what you do.

            "And anyway, Mr. Snape, I must say that she might see something you don't."

            Severus looked up at him, almost eagerly, but his voice was disbelieving.  "Oh, like what?"

            "How many hours a day do you study, Severus?"  Gary asked, earning himself a confused look.

            Severus glanced away as he calculated.  "I don't study at meals, or when I'm helping out here or walking to classes.  Oh, and I don't study at the Quidditch games.  Or when I'm practicing with Rabastan."

            "Severus, you know more about your subjects than most Seventh Years.  Why do you study so much?"  Gary never wavered in his staring at the boy.

            Severus shrugged.  "To keep myself that way."

            "But why not take a break?  If you don't think about the information in your head for an hour, it's not going to go fly away."

            Severus glanced at Gary but looked down when he finished.  Severus didn't respond.

            "Severus, my guess is that you study so much because you feel that's the only thing you're good at, and I think you don't even think you're good enough at that.  You have other skills as well.  Miss Ziners told me you even have a propensity for healing spells."  This caused the 12-year old to glance at Gary quickly, but when Gary stopped in curiosity, Severus looked away.  "I've seen you on a broom.  You can handle yourself there.  And with all the lifting you're doing in here, you making your arms stronger.  Miss Ziners said you needed a little practice, and do you not realize that is what you do with Mr. Lestrange every Wednesday night?  You're getting pretty good from what I saw."  Here again, Severus glanced at the Potions Master but looked away just as quickly.  "Yes, there is a time to be mad at Miss Ziners, but there is a time when you get over this anger.  I think you've put the young girl in the doghouse long enough."

            "She has other friends now," Severus pointed out, his dark eyes still investigating his shoes.

            "Oh, I apologize then.  Maybe I'm the only one noticing her longing glances in your direction."

            Severus' head shot up to him so fast he thought that the boy might get whiplash.

            Gary nodded.  "Yes, and it's getting rather annoying.  She nearly blew Miss Black to kingdom come last week.  I decided that it needs to stop.  Talk to the girl, Severus, before she blows my classroom to smithereens."

            Severus gave a small smile at Gary's mock desperation before frowning and looking down again.  "I'll think about it," he said noncommittally.  After pause, he looked up at Gary.  "Can I go now?"

            Gary nodded.  "Yes, Mr. Snape, and I promise never to intrude on your personal life again."  As Severus got up and grabbed his abandoned chocolate bar from the table, Gary spoke, "And just so you know, Mr. Snape, intruding on your personal life was as agonizing for me as it was for you."

            Severus smirked his direction.  "I figured it was."

            Gary chuckled as the boy left.

*          *          *

            A week later, at supper, Dumbledore stood up and called for quiet.  Once the Great Hall was silent, the Headmaster spoke.

            "Tomorrow morning, Jeff and Julie Rin will return."  There was quiet applause from the Gryffindor table and the Slytherin table, surprising both tables at their mutual show of affection enough to cut the applause off before Dumbledore did.

            Dumbledore continued.  "I request that no one confront them on the death of their father.  That doesn't mean you should pretend it didn't happen.  They are still grieving very deeply.  Their friends should know not to avoid them.  Be there when they need comfort."  Dumbledore looked about to say more then he seemed to decide that that was enough and sat down.

*          *          *

            Their return to school didn't come with an unusual bump in the routine, which probably pleased Dumbledore.  The Slytherin Quidditch team had decided last night after practice that they would sit around and protect Jeff from anyone wanting to confront him.  They spoke to him about the practices that week, especially how Rabastan had mastered hitting the Bludger at different people on will.  Jeff gave Rabastan a weak smile, causing the team to look at each other in concern.  Normally, Jeff would have been beyond enthusiastic.

            They kept yapping about different Quidditch things, including Ravenclaw slaughtering Hufflepuff, and how the Slytherins thought that that would be whom they were going to be competing with for the Quidditch Cup.  Jeff merely nodded.

            When the end of breakfast bell rang, the team stood up and started collecting their bags, but Jeff just continued to sit there.  Rodolophus nudged him.  "You comin', Captain?"  He asked.

            Jeff suddenly seemed to realize that everyone in the Great Hall was moving.  "Uh, yeah," he said before getting up and grabbing his bag.  The team all gathered around him when they were leaving the Hall.  It was Avery that spoke the sentiments of the team to Jeff before he departed for Transfiguration.

            "You know, Jeff, we're all here for you, whenever you need someone."

            Each team member nodded.  Jeff's response was the first time that Jessica noticed that he looked upon the team with new eyes…and he wasn't seeing anything good with them.

            "Yeah, sure," he nodded when he finally responded.  He moved towards the dungeons, confusing Bellatrix and Rodolophus, both Sixth Years, who had Transfiguration with him now.  They shrugged at each other before heading off.

            Jessica turned and headed out of the castle for Care of Magical Creatures, meeting Bertie Magal by the door.

*          *          *

            "What's Severus reading?"  Jessica asked when she and Rabastan walked in together after Quidditch practice that evening.  Severus was on the other side of the room, reading over a well-worn parchment.

            She had meant the question absent-mindedly, not thinking she was going to get an answer, but Rabastan had one nonetheless.

            "Oh, it's a letter he got from his dad this morning.  Seems that his dad's got some time during Christmas break.  Said that Sev should stay at Hogwarts, so he and his dad can spend some 'quality time' here," Rabastan cringed at the words 'quality time' before adding, "Ask me, I would kick out that old biddy of his mother to spend that father-son time in Guthrie Manor.  Have you ever been there?"  Rabastan asked, glancing at her.  "Thing's _huge_.  Got all sorts of secret passageways.  Salazar told me that he doesn't even know everything about it, and he's searched the place a hundred times.  Says the only one to know everything about it is one of their house elves, Moldy or something."

            Jessica nodded at Rabastan's ranting, not quite listening to him as she watched Severus' mouth curve into a smile as he looked at the writing again.  She smiled to herself.

*          *          *

            "I want to know by day's end who killed him, Potter!!!"  Barty Crouch yelled at Marcus again.

            "What?"  Marcus bit back irritably, getting in his boss' face.  "You want me to snap my fingers to make the killer magically appear before me?!  Sorry, even us wizards can't do that.  If we could, I would have this Voldemort character right in front of me."  
            He had had only an hour or two of sleep each night since he had found Adam's dead body, and he was sick and tired of Crouch's yelling at him every two seconds.

            Barty went to open his mouth again, but it snapped shut, confusing Marcus for only a second.  He suddenly realized what he had just said.  

            "What if…?"  He said quietly, to himself.

            "Do you think it could have been?"  Barty asked.

            "Marking the spot of his murderous deeds…he's conceited enough… that would fit the profile," Marcus reasoned out slowly.

            "Wasn't there something odd in the air over that Muggle's house earlier this year?"  Crouch asked.  "Something greenish in color?"

            Marcus nodded.  "Yeah.  We dismissed it though as being left over magical power from the spells performed in a house that didn't see magic regularly."

            "But that seemed a little out there though," Crouch said.  "I said so myself."

            "But I told you there was no other explanation," Marcus responded in frustration  before running again the picture of what he had seen in front of the Minister's door through his head.  "The skull certainly had some green about it," he said before looking back at Crouch, "but we shouldn't be grasping at straws here."

            "I know, I know," Crouch said, "but now we might have a place to start.  And a person to blame."  Crouch started to walk away.

            "Let's get a person we're certain of before we start pointing fingers, Barty," Marcus said sharply to his boss' back.

            Barty stopped but kept his back to Marcus.  "Find that someone and find that someone SOON, Potter!"  He said before starting off again.  Suddenly, Marcus remembered what had kept him up last night.

            "Barty!"  He called, walking after the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.  The man turned back to him.  "Can I ask for a favor?  Someone to help me on the search for Rin's murderer."  
            "Who, Potter?" Crouch asked sharply.

            "Alastor Moody."

            Crouch seemed to hesitate, so Marcus pushed.  "He's our best Auror by far, and it will look good for the Ministry to put their top guys on the case."

            This seemed more than acceptable to the man, and he nodded.  "I'll send an owl right away," he growled.

*          *          *

            "Good job last night," Andorra Dumbledore smiled at Daniel as he walked into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

            Daniel gave her a grin.  "Thanks," he said before starting towards the Dark Operators offices.  He stopped halfway there though when Riley came in.  The boy was deep in thought, but he noticed his boss's eyes, and those of Andorra's.  Their top Law Enforcement officer had no idea what else had happened during the night, but Daniel did.

            Riley nodded towards the offices before glancing at Andorra then at Daniel.  Daniel nodded.  Riley looked at Andorra and nodded towards the Dark Operators' offices again.  She followed the two men back there.  The rest of the Dark Operators were already at the office.  Mark Halmer, a young dark haired fellow that had attended school with Riley here in the States, was leaning against one of the file cabinets, talking with Andre'a "Drea" Kay, a smallish girl that had followed Riley and Mark by a year in school.  Kevin and Josh Benson, identical twin brothers, were sitting at their desks reading over the morning memos.  Richie Thender was sitting on his desk, facing the desk behind him talking with Feng Chong, their newest member.  Feng had definitely shown her worth last night, just as she had in the last six outings the Dark Operators had seen.

            The group all quieted when Daniel walked in, followed by Andorra then Riley.

            "Why weren't you with us last night, Ri?"  Drea asked with a smirk.  "We kicked some ass."

            Daniel gave her a look that was half admonishing, half amused, before he nodded towards Andorra.

            "I take that as an insult," Andorra said to Daniel.  "It's not like I haven't heard worse."

            The team laughed, all knowing of Daniel's little crush on Andorra.  The only person in the room _not_ to know was Andorra herself, who, some wondered, if she may return the crush.

            Riley had shut the door and sealed it with his wand, both blocking the door and sealing their voices from the outside, effectively catching the team's undivided attention.  Daniel leaned against the wall adjacent to the outside hall.  "Riley wasn't at the take-down last night because he had another assignment."

            The group looked from Daniel to Riley then back to Daniel again.  "You know about our leak?"  Everyone nodded.  "In an effort to narrow the field down, I fed false information about our take-down last night to our Ministry suspects."  Daniel glanced at Riley.  "I haven't spoken to him since before he left last night, so I have no idea what happened.  I'll let him take over from here then."

            Riley nodded.  When everyone looked at him, Riley took a deep breath.  "I decided to follow Secretary Ziners last night."  Riley paused and just looked at every face in the room, trying to convey what he was about to say without saying it.  When he didn't succeed, he said, "I followed him to his house, before listening in on a conversation he had with his wife.  He said he had…and I quote…'to pass the information on to the Dark Lord.  He'll be pleased to know that they don't know the exact location.'"  Riley seemed to refuse to look at Daniel at this point, so he examined the rapt faces of his team.  "He proceeded to inform Mrs. Ziners that he was going to Apparate to Knockturn Alley to inform the Dark Lord."

            "Our leak is Secretary Ziners?"  Mark repeated and shook his head slowly.  "I mean, I don't like the fellow and all.  I even suspected him, but it just blows the mind."

            Riley nodded.  They could see him swallow again when the room fell back to silence.  Finally, though, Andorra spoke the connection.

            "Our problem is him then, isn't it?"  She said.  "This Lord Voldemort."

            Riley nodded and looked pointedly over at Daniel now.  The tall man was not looking at anyone.  His eyes were staring into space.  When he felt the stares though, he looked back at Riley.  The boy's brown eyes hit the ground immediately.  Riley knew that Daniel, though he had been suspicious of the Secretary himself, had hoped it wasn't going to be John Ziners.  The last thing he wanted to do was take down his nephew and niece's other uncle.

            Finally, Daniel spoke of the other matter.  "We've suspected for about six months now that our problem might have been Voldemort, or at least connected with him."

            The team, save Riley, glared at Daniel.  "I didn't want to color your vision," Daniel lied.  The team hadn't known about his suspicions of _them_ during the time they had searched for the leak, and he wanted to keep it that way.  The only one he had trusted at the time had been Riley, for the boy had revealed what he had heard to begin with, the information that had led them to suspect that there was a leak.  If he had been working for the other side, Riley would have done his fellows a service by keeping it quiet.  Daniel knew that there had been the chance that Riley had revealed the information to keep himself from suspicion, but he just had a feeling about the boy.  Riley would not join the other side.  Of course, there was always that chance, but as an Auror, you always had to risk that one chance.  You always had to take a chance and trust at least one person; otherwise, it would be pretty lonely on this side.

            "Does Britain know that _we_," Drea mocked that last word, "have had this suspicion?"

            "The 'we'," Daniel clarified, giving her a bossy look, "is I, Mr. Haderson, and Marcus Potter, of the British Aurors, the lead on the Voldemort case as we all know.  And the only reason Haderson knows is because he barged in on the conversation between Potter and myself."  Daniel gave Riley a perturbed look, one that the boy ignored, especially when Mark spoke.

            "Ahhh, his nosiness is what makes him a good Auror.  Plus, it wouldn't be the Riley we know and love if he didn't stick his nose in where it didn't belong."

            The group burst into laughter.  They sobered though when Andorra said, "Guys, I'm giving you the assignment of arresting Secretary Ziners."

            They looked at each other quickly before turning to Daniel.  He nodded.  She stood up to leave but stopped and looked specifically at Daniel.  "And do it _quietly_.  I don't want this hitting the papers before I speak it."

            She started to unseal the door before Riley surprised her by grabbing her hand and stopping her.  He looked around Andorra to Daniel though as he spoke, "Danny, what if…what if his assistants are in on it?  They're constantly with him.  They couldn't have seen nothing the whole time he's been passing information."

            Andorra looked at the boy before looking at Daniel.  "Didn't you say that Grens and Lemore were the ones insisting on the update?"

            "And what about Zeckaroy?"  Drea said.  "He was there too."

            "But he didn't give a hoot about the update," Daniel said as he recalled the meeting.  "He really even didn't listen.  Anyway, I don't think it was Zeckaroy.  But Grens and Lemore are always on Ziners' heels."

            "I want you guys to have a conclusion and arrest by Christmas at the latest," Andorra said to the Dark Operators, who she could clearly see all had a thousand and one possibilities running through their heads now.

            "Don't worry, Miz Dumbledore," Riley said with a smirk, his slight Texan accent breaking through, "We're definitely going throw one to the dementors sooner rather than later."

            Andorra smiled, hating traitors as much as every Auror.

*          *          *

            Jessica decided it was late and packed up to head back to the Common Room.  As she pulled her books into her bag, she noticed that the library was otherwise deserted.  She started out of the library but chuckled to herself when she realized she was going the wrong way.  I have definitely been studying too long; she thought to herself and turned back around.  She stopped halfway though when she heard a book thump shut.  The noise came from the other side of the far most stand-alone bookshelf in the far corner of the library.  She slowly walked that direction until she could stick her head over.  Jeff Rin was sitting alone at the table closest to the wall.  Jessica decided to walk over.

            "It's late," she said.  "You should come back to the Common Room."

            "I don't care," Jeff shot back without looking from his newly opened book.

            She was startled for a second.  Jeff had always been one of the kinder Slytherins, always treating her like a friend.  He had never spoken to her like that before.

            Jessica thought over his behavior for the past week and a half.  There had been a distinct change ever since his return.  Everyone had noticed it, but everyone excused it because of his father's murder.  Jessica thought hard though and put together something she hadn't realized before now.  He had been avoiding the Slytherin Common Room until he had to pass through it to go to bed or pass through it to get out in the morning.  He had been short with any Slytherin that had spoken to him and had been harsh during the Quidditch practices.  He avoided every Slytherin in the hallway, and rarely talked to them in class and that was only when he absolutely needed to speak with them.  He ate meals separately, stopping just short of moving when someone sat near him.  He never engaged in conversation with another Slytherin when he could help it.  The only conversation as a matter of fact that Jessica had recalled seeing him participate in other than to talk to teachers or his sister was when Edgar Bones, Hufflepuff's Quidditch Captain, had stopped him in the hallway to welcome him back.  The two had started talking about Hufflepuff's loss to Ravenclaw.  Edgar had asked Jeff for tips.

            "Did you need something?"  Jeff asked angrily, finally looking up at her to give her a harsh glare.

            Unfazed, Jessica sat down.  "What's going on?"  She asked.

            "I want to study, and you're bugging the hell out of me.  Go away."  Jeff's voice booked no argument, but, again, it didn't faze Jessica.

            "You've avoided the other Slytherins.  It's as if we've all caught a plague or something," she said, "and you're afraid to get it."  She gave him a ghost of a smirk as she added, "I can assure you, none of us caught a deadly disease while you were away.  I mean, at least I don't think any of us did—"

            "Shut up, Ziners," Jeff growled, going back to his book.

            "I will not," she said, frustrated with him.  "We didn't kill your dad, so don't treat us like we did."  She knew it wasn't a polite thing to say, but she was frustrated.

            "Yes, you did," Jeff bit back, glaring at her.  "The secret most of you keep killed him as surely as the Killing Curse did."  Suddenly, the 16-year old realized what he said, and his eyes shot back to the text on the table.

            "Wait a minute," Jessica said.  "What do you mean?  The secret most of us keep?"

            Jeff seemed to decide that this was a time to have it out with someone, and he chose her.  "The identity of Voldemort," he whispered harshly and looked at her intently, as if trying to gage her reaction.

            But her face didn't move a muscle.  She remained quiet for a minute before she said, "Why do you think—"

            "I'm not stupid, Ziners," Jeff bit out.  "I pick up on things.  The way some of you guys talk about Voldemort, it's almost hero worship.  And I notice the way some of you really talk about him; it's as if you know him.  I don't talk to people outside the house about it because it's about survival.  If I speak, I still have to return to that Common Room, knowing that you guys know a man that would murder me without thinking twice about it.  But stupid me," he growled.  "It was my dad that got killed without me talking.  Now I have to live with the fact that I could have turned you all in.

            "And you know the sickest part about it, Ziners.  It was just this summer.  I told my dad that I heard things in the House that no one knew and most dismissed as rumors.  I _told_ him that in our House, I didn't think what I heard were rumors.  _I was right there, Ziners.  I could have told him.  I could have turned the lot of you in_."  Jeff had been leaning towards her, his whispers boiling with not anger but hatred.  And here, Jeff pointed a finger right in her face.  "I could have turned you in for knowing what you know, and I could have possibly saved my father."

            "So you think you're smart now," Jessica said after swallowing the lump in her throat.  She wanted to tell him.  He had no idea.  She wanted to tell him.  But she couldn't, and he would never completely understand that.  But maybe she could make him understand something.  "You think that would have stopped him?  You have not the faintest idea what you've stepped into Jeff, and I'm sorry your father became one of the victims of it, but I can't change that.  He wasn't the first victim, and he won't be the last.

            "But don't blame all of Slytherin.  There are people in there that wanted to talk, and still want to talk, even more than you, Jeff, but they can't.  They can't speak, and it's more than just about surviving yourself.  It's about others, other lives on the line."  She shook her head in frustration before continuing.  

"Be thankful, Jeff, though that your dad was at the receiving end of the mere Killing Curse, because I can assure you that there are worse ways to die, and Voldemort takes pleasure in discovering them."  She paused and looked around the library.  Jeff remained silent as she gathered herself.  She finally looked back at him, an anger in her eyes along with a mixture of unshed tears.

            "In my experience, Jeff, there is one thing I can tell you.  I live with a man that I call father, and he's worse than the devil in my book.  He takes pleasure in practicing curses on my brother and me, but I know that we have yet to get the worse of what he can throw, because I've seen the worse and for as long as I live, I'll never forget watching it.  Every time he calls my name or my brother's name and tells us to come to his study, I walk there wondering if today is the day that I will see his worse again.  I fear him like something I am sure you have no concept of.  I know what he's capable of, and I have no doubt whatsoever that he could care less than to unleash it on us.  And even then, Jeff, I know there's something worse.  And that's Voldemort.  The only other person that scares me more than my father is Lord Voldemort."  Jessica found she had a struggle to go on, so she said grabbed her bag quickly, trying to pretend she was rubbing something out of her eyes.  "I'm sorry, Jeff.  You have no idea how sorry I am.  I wish things were different.  You have no idea how much I wish that.  And now I understand why you are mad at me, and I'm not saying it isn't deservedly so, but understand that some of us want to talk.  We just can't.  Someday, you'll understand."

            Jessica paused a second, looking at the table.  She took a deep breath before glancing back at Jeff.  Though the hatred was still there in his face, it had lessoned a fraction in its intensity.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before taking off.

*          *          *

            "Who's picking us up?"  Casey asked as they disembarked from the Hogwarts Express.  His answer didn't come from Jessica however.  He felt the dark eyes before he spotted them.  Standing in the shadows, they could make out the outline of their father.

            "Him?"  Casey all but squeaked in an attempt to whisper quietly to Jessica.

            She nodded as she lugged the trunk off the train.  She had to reach back up and hit Casey to get him to follow her.

            They each took a deep breath, not noticing that their movements were completely in sync, before they started forward.

*          *          *

            "Hey, Mum…Dad?"  The last word came out of James Potter in surprise.  His mother usually picked him alone.

            Marcus chuckled at his son before his eyes glanced again down the platform.  "Yeah," Marcus said to James.  "I was in the area and had the day off, so wa la, here I am."

            James smiled.

            "Hey, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Potter!"  Sirius Black yelled as he lugged his trunk up to them.

            "You guys didn't get into too much trouble this year, did you?"  Brittany asked, giving the two boys a stern look.

            "Perhaps you haven't met them yet," Remus Lupin said as he lugged his trunk up to his parents, who were waiting not ten feet away.  "Mrs. Potter, Mr. Potter, this is James Potter and Sirius Black, Hogwarts notorious trouble makers."

            Sirius and James both cracked up laughing as Sirius gave Remus a playful push.

            The boys' attention was captured again when they heard two trunks being lugged behind two long faced students as they followed their father's brisk footsteps.

            "Hello, Jessica, Casey," Marcus Potter greeted them warmly before giving their father what looked to be a forced grin.  "Jeffery," he nodded.

            At their names, each kid had individually jumped.  At his name, Jeffery just gave Marcus a cool nod.  They moved on without saying anything.  Neither child responded to Marcus' greeting, causing Mr. Potter to bite his lip.

            When they had passed, James asked, "What's up, Dad?  You don't normally take the day off for no reason."

            Marcus gave him a smile, but there was something else on his face that his son recognized, something he didn't see particularly often there.  Deep worry.

            "I had an errand I had to run today, and I couldn't run it on the Ministry's time."

            "Why didn't you just owl it?"  Sirius asked.

            "I had to discuss it with someone first, in person," Marcus answered then became distracted by the man that had just walked through the magical barrier.  He was a tall, broadly muscled stern looking man with dark eyes and dark hair.  He spotted his son right away and walked up to him.

            "Sirius, you ready to go?"  Malcolm Black asked.

            Sirius nodded.  "Yeah, Dad."

            Sirius started to say bye to his friends but was interrupted by Marcus talking to Malcolm.  "That thing I was working on, Malcolm, the thing that Amelia told you about."

            Malcolm looked confused for a second before it seemed to dawn to him.  "The issue with the two students?"  He asked vaguely.

            Marcus nodded.  "Yeah.  It's going to go down sometime during this break.  I'll owl you beforehand."

            Malcolm nodded.  "Okay.  Come on, Sirius," he said before starting to walk off.

            Sirius, James, and Remus all passed curious looks to each other before Sirius said, "See you guys later.  I'll owl both of you."

            They nodded.  "Maybe you can come over on Christmas or something," James said, before glancing at Remus.  "You too."

            Sirius nodded, and he and his father went back through the barrier.  Remus and his parents took off soon after that.  James gave one last curious look to his father before the Potters went back through the barrier as well.

To be continued…


	7. Loss of Innocence

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex@charter.net)

**Chapter ****7:  Loss of Innocence**

**Disclaimer:  **I don't own much of what is in here.  I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!).  Blah, blah, blah.  I'm not making a red cent (or a cent of any other color).  You know the drill. 

Okay, big time apology for the late in coming.  To make a long story short: Luxembourg, Brussels, father/sister visit, sleep, mother/friend visit, virus, spammer, malwares, paper.  But at long last, here is chapter seven!

'Nother Note:  I apologize profusely.  I misspelled Madam Pomfrey's name in the entire last chapter.  I corrected it in this chapter.  Again, I apologize.  Normally, I check these things against the books and the Lexicon.  I guess I was lax there.

Also, I was destined not to be able to cheat Microsoft Word forever.  Many months ago, I had to change my spell check to U.K. English (as I'm currently studying over here for the year).  I think it was because I had been using an old document to write off of, the U.K. English had not kicked in for this story (long, confusing story, but just trust me it worked this way).  Alas, it finally has.  Some of the spelling will be different now (giving it an authentic quality??  Hehe).  It will change back when I return to the U.S. and college in my little northern town.

In answer to PhoenixTearsp322 (I love you, loyal reviewer!  LOL) - Chapter Six was a grand total of 47 pages.  It was hellish to write (and I mean that in a loveable sense because I adore writing with every fibre of my being).  It was even more hellish to write than you think because I wrote chapter five and chapter six in one fell swoop, only splitting them up after I reached the end of the first draft of chapter six.  And though I'm not about to split up chapter seven here (in the range of forty pages if you count the notes), I will make a rule for future chapters: twenty-five pages is the max per chapter.  They will be more user-friendly that way, I imagine.  (I should have known better than to publish a 47-page chapter, as I know I HATE to read those because when you have to exit it out and bring it back up at a later time, finding where you were is a pain!)

I also wanted to take a minute and thank my reviewers thus far: PhoenixTearsp322, Cinammon, lita, Agent 009, meema, TheSpaminator, Echo, gotsnape, zeedrippyvessel, andMistress Of James.  I write for myself, and I write because I enjoy it immensely, but to be able to share that pleasure with others is a great reward.  I appreciate you guys for leaving me reviews.  Hope you guys, and everyone else reading the story, continue to enjoy it.

Lastly, the loveable character list is located at: I can't give a direct hyperlink, so I'll give directions: type in the geocities website and after the 'dot com' portion, put this sign: / and then type my pen name 'bch035'.  Or, if you just want, you can email me directly, and I'll give you the address.

As to the new characters, I have set a record.  Only two new characters in this chapter (aren't you all proud of me?):

**_Good:_**

**Rohan Figg (mc):**  Soon becoming one of the top Healers in the world, Rohan has a specialization in healing from dark magic spells.  He attended Hogwarts and was in Gryffindor.

**Virginia Longbottom:**  Frank's mother.  She is an Unspeakable at the Ministry of Magic.

(There is a Mrs. Breamer here as well, but that's just to fill space so far.  I have no plans for her whatsoever…as of yet.  I don't imagine I will either.)

Have fun!

            "So how has school been going?"  Michael asked his son.  They sat at a table in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, eating lunch.

            Severus gave a shrug.  "Alright, I suppose.  I…uh…I tried out for the Quidditch team," he said before quickly adding, "I didn't make it though."

            Michael, his attention intent on his son, nodded.  "That's too bad," but to Severus' surprise, there was absolutely no disappointment in his voice.  "What position did you try out for?"

            "Beater."  Severus wasn't about to go into the story of the try-out, so he said, "Rabastan Lestrange, the boy who did make Beater, is helping me practice so I can possibly take over Jeff Rin's position in two years."

            Michael nodded, but Severus suddenly realized what he said by the look that passed over his father's face.  Severus took another bite of his lunch before swallowing, then saying, "How are things going at the Ministry anyway?"

            "As well as can be expected," Michael said quietly before changing back to the previous subject.  "I never tried out for the Quidditch team.  I was never that proficient on a broom."

            Severus gave him a surprised look and couldn't stop the words that came out of his mouth, "I thought you were good at everything."

            Michael gave him a sad smile.  "I wish," then he gave Severus a peculiar look as he added, "but there are some things I definitely could be better at."

            When all Severus did was look back at his empty plate, Michael asked, "Christmas is tomorrow.  Are you excited?"

            Severus shrugged but gave his father a small smile.

            "Let's take a walk," Michael said suddenly.  He paid for the meal, and he and Severus left.  They made some small talk until they were out of the town and on their way back to the castle.

            "Severus, I've put this off for long enough," Michael said seriously.  "I've got to tell you something."

            At the tone of his voice, Severus wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, so he said, "You've only put it off for three days, so I guess I can forgive you."

            Instead of the chuckle Severus was hoping for, his father frowned.  "I've actually put this off for 12 years."

            Now Severus was _sure _he didn't want to hear it.  "It's nothing bad, is it?" he pleaded quietly.

            Here, Michael seemed to lighten up a notch.  "In a way, no.  In a way, it has the potential to be."

            Severus remained quiet after that.  Better to get this over with.

            Michael stopped unexpectedly and looked over by the lake.  "Let's sit down," he said and led his son over.  They sat by the edge of the lake, the farthest side from Hogwarts.  They sat side by side, Severus crossing his legs kid-style, Michael stretching his long legs out.  He leaned back on his hands, but instead of talking, he just looked over the lake for a long time.

            Finally, Severus spoke.  "Okay, though I'm not sure I want to hear it, say it anyway because the suspense is starting to kill me."

            Michael threw his son a small smile before looking back over the lake, then at his feet.

            "Severus, it's about where you come from," his father paused before asking, "You know both my side of the family and your mom's side are pure blood families?"  
            Severus nodded.

            "Well, my side has a sort of special history.  You see, your great-great-great-and so on-grandmother was Rowena Ravenclaw," here, Michael looked at him, but it was only to look at Severus' still face, his jaw hanging slightly from its hinges.

            Michael smiled.  "Say something, Severus."  
            He started to say something, then stopped, then tried again, but stopped and looked out at the lake.

            Michael looked back over the lake as well.  "I know it's something I should probably have told you a long time ago, but it…well, it's just something that doesn't come up in regular conversation—"

            "Jessica Ziners told me who she was."

            Michael quieted for a good minute before he asked, "She did?"  
            Severus nodded.

            "About how—"

            "She has to protect the heirs of Hogwarts.  Yes, she told me all of that."

            Michael nodded but didn't say anything more.

            Severus turned to his father.  "But why didn't she tell me that I was one of the people she had to protect?"  When his father remained silent, Severus concluded, "Or maybe she doesn't know."

            "She knows," Michael said.  "She didn't tell you because she can't tell anyone who the heirs are.  She's physically incapable of doing so.  She can't even name the heir that she may be protecting the other three from," Michael paused before he added, "Which, I assume, is probably the greatest irony of them all.

            Severus took a long time before he nodded.  "Makes sense though."

            Michael nodded.

            After another minute of silence, Severus asked, "How does she know who the heirs are?"  He looked at his father.

            "According to what Jessica's mother told me, they have a feeling in the pit of their stomach.  It's not a bad feeling…more of a warm one I think she said, sort of a tingling."

            A pause, then Severus inquired, "Do the heirs get the same feeling when they look upon the Mighty Blood?"

            Michael threw his son a half grin.  "Well, in a slight way, yeah, but, in your case, it might be something more."

            "What more could it be?"  Severus asked, not seeing what his father meant.

            Michael looked back at the lake and shrugged.  "She's a pretty girl," he said.  Michael's rich laughter filled the air when Severus smacked his arm.

*          *          *

            Despite the horrible Christmas break they were having, Jessica had to smile at Casey.  They were sitting at the kitchen table doing their homework.  Casey went to get a glass of milk but walked around the kitchen on his tiptoes.  It was pretty much the way they had to be since coming home.  Everything was setting their father off.  They had each received two beatings apiece since they had gotten home a week ago.  They weren't grounded however, for which Jessica was thankful.  As long as they kept out of Dad's hair, they were going to be fine Jessica hoped...well, they couldn't stop the beatings, but maybe at least they could stay out of their rooms during the day.

            They hadn't seen hide nor hair of Uncle Danny all break, which confused the siblings.  Even today – Christmas Day – there was no sign of their uncle.  This was part of what had their father in his eternal bad mood.  Something was going on in the Department of Magic…and no one knew what it was.  Uncle Danny wasn't the only one suspiciously absent.  Riley Haderson and the rest of the Dark Operators, the Head of International Magical Cooperation Zeckaroy, the two assistants to Uncle John – Grens and Lemore, and Uncle John were all M.I.A.  No one had seen them at all in the past week and a half.  Jessica and Casey hadn't even heard anything since they arrived home a week ago.  

            Andorra Dumbledore had made a few appearances, but Jessica guessed that was for the reporters' sakes.  The reporters hadn't picked up on the missing Dark Operators as the reporters didn't really know that they existed , but the disappearances of Grens, Lemore, and Uncle John – being the assistants to the Secretary of Magic and the Secretary of Magic himself – had caused something of a small uproar – an uproar that probably wouldn't remain small for much longer.

            Suddenly, Jessica and Casey heard a distinct *pop*, announcing an arrival in Father's study, which was two rooms and a hallway away from them.  In the deadly silent house, they could pick up their father scrambling out of his chair.

            _Tom_, Jessica heard Casey in her head.

            She glanced at her brother and nodded.  Tom hadn't shown up at the house during Christmas break while Jessica and Casey had been around, but they knew he had in their absences, and the siblings felt that Tom was greatly contributing to their dad's mood.  The thing was that Jeffery had slipped a thing or two while he yelled at Jessica two nights ago before he threw her across the room and gave her some Strickiomus' across the face, and now Jessica wondered if there was something on top of the mysteries at the Department that was making their father more horrid than ever.  She had a feeling Tom was what was the matter to an even bigger degree than usual.

            Jessica got up and walked silently out of the kitchen.

            _Jessica!!!  Don't!!!_

            She glanced at her brother and nodded towards the study.  _I've got to.  What we don't know can kill us.  We've got to find out what else is going on._  Jessica had turned back around and continued towards the study, but she could almost hear Casey's mental groan.  It was but a second, and he was walking beside her.  When she glanced at him, he said in her head:

            _We're family, and we stick together._

            Jessica smirked at him before they crept down the short hallway past the living area.  There was a medium sized glass statue sitting on a small table just before the door to his study, but she and Casey were able to hear what went on in the study from the farther side of the statue so they didn't have to work the task of getting to the other side unseen.

            "It says what?"  Tom growled.

            "I don't know when she did it," Dad whined, "but she did it, and it's rock solid.  I can't get to Madeline's money."

            There was a pause, then, "Well, who can get to her money?!"

            "Daniel is the guardian until Jessica and Casey are of age.  They then split it fifty-fifty."

            "As her husband, I would imagine…"

            "No, Master, I'm sorry.  She wrote it in the will.  If Daniel dies, then it is to pass from one person to the next.  And it specifically states that the money is never to go to me.  Or you."

            "What happened to the will we had her write?!"  They heard Tom blast something at the end of his sentence.

            Their dad whimpered, leading the kids to believe the blast must have hit somewhere near him.  Father finally managed to answer, "This one was written at a later date, witnessed by a witch and wizard from Maine."  Another blast had their dad whimpering again.

            "Well?  Who witnessed it?!"

"Two of Molly Weasley's cousins," their dad practically whined in fear.  "They're both Americans, and one is a wizarding lawyer.  It's all legitimate.  I checked it in every possible way, even if John could overturn it.  But it's completely legal and binding."

            Another few blasts then a quiet but nonetheless deadly voice, "Is that it over there?"  Tom walked somewhere.  

            "Yes, it is, Master," Jeffery whimpered.

            "Well, let's just destroy it," Tom said.

            "There are other copies."

            "How do you know?!"  Tom roared.

            Their dad took a second before he answered very quietly.  "Molly Weasley showed me her copy and told me that there were more."

            "You talked to that whore about this?!"

            Both kids outside the study could feel their blood heat on that one.  Tom had never taken to Molly and Molly had definitely never taken to Tom, and, though both suspected that he did so behind their backs, they had never heard him talk about Molly in this manner before.  It angered both of them.  But they kept their positions and continued to listen.

            "I had to," Jeffery started, seeming only a fraction stronger but still very scared, "When I tried getting the money two days ago, five years after her death like we planned, and the bank told me no, I had to find out why.  She gave me that copy, then produced another one and said that there were more like it, sitting in hiding places around the world, ready to become public if I ever find some other way to take out Madeline's money."

            "She's a lying whore.  We'll just kill the bitch, her husband too because he's a bumbling idiot.  Kids, if they have them yet, they'll die as well," Tom said matter-of-factly.  There was silence before Tom yelled, "Crucio!"  But he let up a second later.  "What is it now?!"

            When Jeffery managed to speak again, he said in a quiet, nervous voice, "Molly said that if she were to die, that the world would know."

            "What's that suppose to mean?!"

            When Jeffery didn't answer, he got a few Strickiomus'.

            "She thinks she has protection from me?!"  Tom said, but everyone listening knew he was talking to himself.  "She thinks that letting a few measly people know who I am will stop me?!"  There were a few blasts around the room before Tom continued, but this time his voice was softer, almost calm.  "Soon, Molly Weasley, the world will know who I am, and they will be so terrified of me, _they will be afraid to speak my name_.  When that time comes, Molly Weasley, I dare you to defy me again…"

            There was another long pause, save for Jeffery's soft whimpering.  Suddenly Tom said, "Jeffery," his tone was almost cheery, "this was written August 9, 1962, _after Madeline submitted to you_."

            _Submitted to him?_  Casey asked in her head.  She ignored him and continued to listen carefully.

            "Uh…ye…y…yes, I-I know that, Master, but it was only a few days after.  It...it…it didn't take full ef-ef-effect until a week after she s-s-s-submitted, M-m-m-master.  She still had almost full effect of her magical powers."

            "Yes, I know that you imbecile!  That's how she put that fucking cloak in place!  We went through this when it happened!  But that only lasted for three days afterwards!  This was six days afterwards!"

            "Her p-powers di-did start to lessen, M-master, b-but her mind was still…completely hers, M-master."

            "You told me," Tom yelled, "that you had her under lock and key the entire time after that first runaway incident!"  
            When Jeffery didn't respond, he earned himself another Cruciatus, but this one was a lot longer, and probably a lot more painful.  Tom finally let up.  While their father recovered, Tom said, "Now to my news.  I have someone in place in case your children decide to talk, someone other than who is at Hogwarts.  I do not want your children to know about this one.  It's someone in place close to the Dark Operators, someone to kill your brother-in-law and that idiot Haderson.  Andorra Dumbledore as well just because the whore pisses me off.  If the children talk, they die."

            _Damit_, was Casey's growl in her head.

            "As soon as any of those expendable nitwits show their face," Tom said, referring to Jonathon Ziners, Grens, and Lemore, "I want them at my doorstep before they take their next breath."  Tom growled.  "I swear you should never have recruited those three.  They're a trifecta of idiocy."

            With that, Tom left with a *pop*.

            The kids stayed in place as they listened to their father's panting.  He was in a lot of pain, they could tell just from his laboured breathing.  It was about five minutes later when he stood up and let out a slew of curse words.  Jessica and Casey decided it was now time to retreat.

            And, of course, that's when Casey tripped over the untied shoelaces of his right shoe, fell into Jessica, causing her to fall into the glass statue, and causing that to fall before it shattered into a million pieces.  Jessica didn't have to see her father to know that he came out to check what was going on.

*          *          *

           Severus and his father were on their way to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner when two people entered the school.  It was James Potter and his mum.  As the two Snapes slowed down, Severus glanced at his father to see him give the newcomers a curious look.  

Mrs. Potter looked up in surprise at Michael Snape before saying, "I've been trying to get in touch with you, Michael."

            "Me?  Why?"  He asked.

            Mrs. Potter glanced at Severus then her own son.  Both boys were looking very perplexed.

            "Why don't you both go to dinner, boys," she said in a soft, pleasant voice, "We adults will catch up in a bit."

            Severus glanced at his father to see the man nod.  Both Severus and James went to the Great Hall, but when their parents seemed satisfied enough that they were going to disappear, both boys started walking incredibly slow.

            "Marcus is going to be doing something," Brittany whispered loudly, "and everyone involved so far is sure it's going to have some international repercussions."

            "What?"  Michael asked hurriedly.

            "Removing the Ziners chi—boys, get in the Great Hall now!"

            Both boys finished the trek quickly.  As they walked to the table, they glanced at each other, and in a rare moment that Severus was sure would never happen again with this boy, they shared a look.  It was confused but now incredibly worried.

            Severus wasn't sure if he was surprised or not to see a number of chairs more at the table than Severus had been expecting just five minutes ago.  There was enough to accommodate all the teachers; Severus; his dad; the two Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw, and one Gryffindor that had all stayed here during break; plus 10 more, one that James Potter was filling right now.

            So Severus was also sure that he wasn't surprised when Sirius Black came into the Great Hall soon after that.  Severus was only a few chairs away from James, so, despite the murmuring from a few of the teachers, he could hear Sirius say, "What's going on?" to James.  James just shrugged at him.

            "All I know," James replied, "is that when I woke up this morning Dad announced we were going to be eating Christmas dinner here.  Mom and I were to come straight here, but he had to go somewhere and pick up two friends, he said.  It's all very weird."

            Sirius nodded.  "Yeah.  This morning my dad gets an owl, and afterwards he nods towards my mum and says, 'It's happening today.  He's set it up, and he's going to take them to Hogwarts for protection.'"

            Both boys shared a disturbed look just as Michael Snape, Brittany Potter, Malcolm Black, Amelia Black, and two people Severus didn't recognize came in.

            As they sat at the table, Dumbledore smiled brightly at the couple that was unknown to Severus.  They were somewhat young, Severus noticed.  Both had red hair and freckles.  The man seemed a small bit nervous, but the woman looked like she was on a mission.

            "Molly, Arthur," Dumbledore said.  "I'm glad you could make it."

            They both returned Dumbledore's smile, but the woman spoke.  "Thank you so much, Professor, for helping out."

            Dumbledore just merely nodded at her.

            "Okay, let's start the feast," Dumbledore said once everyone was settled.

            Nevertheless, none of the children missed the tension that filled the room thickly after that statement.  Something was going to happen before they were done eating, Severus knew.  

He just didn't know what.

*          *          *

            Daniel looked up from the press statement that Andorra had preliminarily prepared.  Riley walked into the room, followed by Mark and Drea.

            "Did Grens talk?"  He asked.

            "Sang like a fucking canary," Riley said, and no one could miss the satisfaction in his voice.  "We've got names and a few hide-outs here in America, plus two bank accounts.  Other than that, he said Voldemort doesn't trust him with much more."

            "And knowing Grens like I do…well, at least now like I do…" Mark started.

            "Yeah, we got to know him pretty well during interrogation, didn't we?"  Drea asked the other two with a smirk.  They chuckled.

            "Anyway," Mark continued, "knowing Grens is an idiot, I can't wait until we catch one of Voldemort's more capable minions.  I don't imagine Grens being that important, and he seemed to know a lot of things for being an idiot."

            "Leave it to you guys to see the fun side of this," Daniel said without a smile.  "If Grens knew a lot for being an idiot, then that means that Voldemort has a much bigger network than we were anticipating before we arrested Grens this morning."

            Suddenly, Marcus Potter pushed his way into Andorra's office.  When they saw it was him, the three Dark Operators parted the way.

            "Marcus," Riley said, "we've got some intel for you on Voldemort.  John Ziners had quite a bit of info on places in the UK."

            However, Marcus only merely nodded at him.  "Daniel, I need to talk to you," he said.

            Daniel gave him a curious look before he noticed Marcus held something rather tightly in his right hand.

            "What's that?"  He asked.

            Marcus looked confused a moment before he noticed where Daniel's attention had gone to.  He held his fist up and waved the parchment at Daniel.  "It's about this."  Marcus glanced at Andorra and the Dark Operators, as if suddenly realising they were still here.  He looked back at Daniel.  "I need to talk to you alone."

            Daniel gave him a long look before saying quietly, "Let's go to the Dark Operators' office."  Marcus nodded and followed Daniel out, not noticing the worried looks he got from everyone in that office.  Everyone but Andorra that is, who just looked worriedly at Daniel, wondering how he was going to react.

            Once they were in the quiet, empty office of the special force team, the door shut, Marcus told Daniel to sit.  The younger Auror leaned against Riley Haderson's desk, which was right in front of Daniel's, and crossed his arms.

           "Daniel," he started off, and then stopped.  Daniel had never seen the Auror so seemingly perturbed about something.

            "What is it, Marcus?"  Daniel asked.  He nodded towards the parchment.  "Is it that?"  

            Marcus took a minute before nodding.  "Yeah, it is."  He started to hand it to Daniel before stopping, which puzzled Daniel even more.  Marcus started and stopped a few times before he finally settled on, "Daniel, I think that Jeffery is abusing Jessica and Casey."

            Daniel shook his head.  "I know he's a bit harsh, Marcus, but that's not abuse."

            "I'm not against a parent being harsh, but I have reasons, not to mention witnesses, that believe he has crossed the line.  I hate to do this, Daniel—"

            "Marcus," Daniel got up and shook his head as he started towards the door.  "I know you have honourable intentions, but—"

            "I have more than honourable intentions," Marcus burst out, getting frustrated.  He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but, as his friend, Marcus felt that he had to drive this point home with Daniel before he took a step towards Jeffery Ziners.  "I have Adam Rin's and Andorra Dumbledore's signatures!"  
            This stopped Daniel and had the older Auror turning towards Marcus.  "You have what?"  He asked in a low, threatening tone Marcus had heard uttered only twice before by him, and both in the presence of and to bad guys.

            Marcus thrust the Order of Removal at Daniel.  "I am going to remove the children whether you want me to or not."  Daniel grabbed the order and read it.  "I just thought because of our friendship I would tell you first.  I know I started this out bad, but I didn't know how to…"  Marcus trailed off when Daniel just shook his head.

            "You don't understand, Marcus.  You don't understand a lot.  The first thing you don't understand," Daniel said, handing Marcus back the order, using a cheerful voice that frightened Marcus more than the threatening tone, "is that the children would have told me if something was going on, or at least I would have noticed it.  The second thing you don't understand is my family.  We've always had a magical ability more powerful than the average witch or wizard.  We've had to be closely monitored and strictly disciplined by our parents.  I am sure that some of the things my mother did as punishment to Madeline and myself would curl your toes."

            "I understand more than you think," Marcus said quietly and darkly.  But he didn't elaborate just yet, even when Daniel shook his head.

            "No, I don't think you do, Marcus, and I don't think you ever will.  There is just something about the Montgomery family—"

            "I know," Marcus said, again quietly.

            "You have no idea, Marcus—"

            "I understand more than you think I do," Marcus replied, this time a little louder.

            Again, Daniel shook his head.  "I know you think you do, Marc—"

            Frustrated, tired, and mad at everyone assuming what he knew – first Ignatius Malfoy, then Barty Crouch, then the newspapers, now Daniel – Marcus blurted out, "I'm the heir to the Gryffindor line!  I understand more than you think!"  
            Daniel didn't respond.  He didn't even flinch.  

            Marcus rubbed the area above his eyes in a frustrated gesture.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to tell you that.  I've been having the month from hell."  Marcus shook his head before looking back up at Daniel.  "I do know that, as Mighty Bloods, you have to be closely monitored and closely disciplined.  I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that.  What I am saying is that I've always wondered if there was something more to what Jeffery does to those kids.  I wasn't sure something was wrong until Molly Weasley's husband Arthur came to me with something unusual Molly had seen."

            Daniel looked away.  "What was it?"  He asked.  His voice was soft, almost sad.

            Marcus explained what Molly had seen upon walking in on Jessica in the bathroom that day almost a year and a half ago, and he also explained his own research into the injury of a brandishing iron.  Marcus followed that up by Albus Dumbledore and Lily Evans' suspicions.

            When Marcus finished, Daniel remained silent, finally causing Marcus to add, "You know I wouldn't upset Jessica's or Casey's life if I didn't believe there was a damn good reason to."

            Daniel, who was still not looking at him, nodded.  "I know that," he whispered.

            "And I would rather have done something than nothing," Marcus said.

            "Which is something more than I've been doing," Daniel said softly, his voice breaking at the end.

            Marcus looked at Daniel a very long time before saying, "Well, you can do something now."

            Daniel looked up at Marcus at last, a questioning look in his eyes.

            "Jeffery is more than likely not going to let us take those children easily.  It will help if I have someone to back me up."

           "If Jeffery is hurting Jess and Case, _he'll_ need someone to back _him_ up," Daniel said as they started out of the office.  "Where are we taking them after here?"  Daniel asked.  "I assume you have something set up other than my place, having been unsure of whether or not I would support you."  The older Auror sounded as though that offended him.

            "Hogwarts.  I have the legalities worked out with Headmaster Dumbledore and Malcolm Black, who's a school governor.  Both will back me up if and when needed."  Marcus took a Christmas ornament out of his pocket, "Got Rightman from the Portkey office to set this up.  It'll take us to Hogwarts, where my family's waiting, as well as Black and his family, and I got the Weasleys there as well, just to make the kids feel even safer.  I was thinking that maybe you could come along too, if you want."

            Daniel nodded.  "I will."

When they walked out into the main area, Andorra was there, talking to Riley.  She looked questioningly at them.  Daniel didn't notice, but Marcus did.  He nodded to her.  She gave him a grim smile and returned the nod before going back to Riley.  The young man looked perplexed.

            Marcus and Daniel started the trek out of the Department of Magic and up to the house on the hill.         

*          *          *

            "Come into my study," he growled before wiping at the blood on his nose with a handkerchief.

           Jessica glanced at Casey only to see her brother staring fiercely at the shattered statue.  When they entered the study, Jeffery went to pick up something that Tom had blasted off a shelf.  While he did that, Jessica, who had stopped next to her brother in front of their father's desk, glanced down.  There was some blood there.  She looked up and glanced over her dad.  The sleeve of his robe was damp, and there was some blood on his hand.  She glanced at the blood on the ground again.  She was standing over where he had been kneeling to his master.

            Suddenly, Jeffery turned to his children.  "What have I told you time and again?" he growled.

            Neither child answered.

            "Eavesdropping is forbidden!  Time and again, I have to punish you for it," at 'you', he looked specifically at Jessica.  "This time," he growled, his dark eyes still on his daughter, "the punishment will have to be irreversible, just to be a constant reminder to you the consequences of your disobeying me!"

            Even before he looked elsewhere, Jessica knew.  She gasped.  "NO!"  She screamed when his gaze swung to Casey.

            "I have decided," he started raising his wand.  "It is too late."

            Not thinking, Jessica reached behind her for the wand she had stuck in the back of her pants before coming out of the kitchen.  Her fingers had barely grasped it before Jeffery turned his wand on her and screamed, "Expelliarmus!!"  She flew backwards and skidded a few feet on her bum as her wand flew away from her.  Jeffery caught it before turning his wand back on Casey.  "Accio Casey's wand," he said quickly.  Casey didn't have time to think as his wand flew out from a similar spot in his pants.

            As Jeffery set the two wands behind him on the desk he said, "Thank you, Jessica, for reminding me to do that.  My mind seems to be elsewhere today…" he trailed off.

            Jessica pushed up quickly, despite the complaints of her now pained thighs.  "A lot elsewhere, like usual," she growled as she started determinedly towards him.  She wanted his attention.  Maybe if she made him angry enough, he would forget about their eavesdropping, forget about Casey…

            "Stupid girl," he growled before, "Strickiomus!"

            Jessica's face flew to one side, but she continued her advance.

            "Impedimenta!!!"  She stopped moving.  "Strickiomus!"  This was at her side and knocked her over.  It also knocked the Impediment Jinx off, but that didn't matter as she got a series of Strickiomus' all over her body.  Jeffery finished off with slamming a Strickiomus so hard across the side of her head that the resulting slam of her head on the floor knocked her out cold.

            "I really wish she was awake to see this, but oh well," Jeffery muttered before he said to Casey, "Say hi to your mother as you depart this world the same way she did."

            Casey finally reacted, but his lurch to run was cut short when his father yelled, "Crucio!"

*          *          *

            Marcus and Daniel were halfway up the hill when Marcus spoke again.  "Are they going to be home?"  
            Daniel shrugged.  "I haven't been able to see Jess or Case since…the arrests.  It's been so busy, and I've been meaning to," Marcus could hear the guilt.  "I was going to try to see them tonight…"

            Daniel trailed off and stopped his movements.  Marcus stopped as he saw the same thing that had caught Daniel's attention. 

But the young Auror didn't want to believe it…

*          *          *

Jessica didn't know how long she was out, but it couldn't have been for more than two or three minutes because when she opened her eyes, her father was still performing the Crucio on Casey.  Jessica was slow in her movements, not wanting him to realize she was awake, but still aware that she didn't have a second to lose.

            Thankfully, Jeffery was turned slightly towards the door, Casey on the floor before him.  Jessica's heart leapt with fear when she saw that her brother wasn't moving.  She could see that grotesque cuts were starting to crack open on his arms, which meant there wasn't long for his mind…or his life.

            Jessica quietly stood up, biting back several groans.  Blood smeared her hands, and she was sure it smeared her face as well.  There was also a damp spot high up on the left side of her forehead.  But none of this mattered to her right now.

            Jeffery never turned as his daughter stood up.  He was too into the spell.  That would be his mistake.

            Jessica felt calm as she stuck out her left hand, though she could feel her heart beating wildly.  She knew once she spoke, she would have to be quick.  This was the moment, and as she looked at Casey on the floor, she knew she had to be ready.

            She felt the power flow to her fingertips as she flexed them towards Father's desk.  "Accio wand!"  She called.  The wand flew to her hand as Jeffery stopped the curse curiously.  She reared back her wand as he started to turn.  "Slowmia Capila!"

            Contrary to the Impediment Jinx, this was guaranteed to slow the person to a crawl rather than run the risk of stopping them completely.  For some reason Jessica wanted to know that when she did this, her father wouldn't be completely helpless.  Just really, really slow.

            Because she knew the next curse would be the hardest.

            She reared back her wand, not even sure at that moment that she could say it…and mean it…but when her wand came down to point directly at her father's heart, she saw her brother's still body again…

            And yelled...

*          *          *

            It was a flash of green light.  Daniel and Marcus took off in a dead run.

            Marcus hadn't been sure what he thought he would see upon reaching the study in the house, the room Daniel said the light had come from, but Marcus was pretty sure what greeted him when they reached the room wasn't what he had been expecting.

            The first thing was Casey Ziners.  He was lying perfectly still not seven feet from the door.  He was wearing brown, bloodstained trousers and a dark blue t-shirt with dark wet spots.  The skin on his arms was starting to crack open.

            The next thing was Jeffery Ziners.  He also lay perfectly still, about five feet from his son.  There was some blood crusted on his nose and some recently dried stuff that had streaked part of his hand, but Marcus suspected that neither of these had to do with the reason he was still.  Marcus was pretty sure Jeffery was dead.

            And the last thing was Jessica Ziners.  She was standing up about five feet from her father.  She stood slightly hunched, her breathing erratic, her wand and her wand arm hanging loosely at her side.  Her face was covered in blood and a few lacerations, and she was bleeding from an injury on part of her head.  Her eyes though didn't see the intruders.  They still lie on her father.

            Daniel quickly kneeled and checked Casey's vitals.  "He's still alive," Daniel breathed.  Marcus knew that that wasn't to inform him but the exclamation of a grateful uncle.  As Daniel tended to the severely injured 11-year old, Marcus started towards Jessica.  He stopped by Jeffery however and kneeled to check the man's vitals.  Dead.

            Marcus, still kneeling on the floor by Jeffery, looked up at Jessica.  Her eyes, dark blue, remained on her father.  She stood completely motionless, except for her chaotic breathing.

            "Jessica," Marcus said quietly, cautiously.

            No response.

            Marcus, still near the floor, came slowly closer to the young girl, but there was no movement until he got within touching distance.  She jerked and stepped back, her wand starting towards a defensive motion automatically.

            "Jessica, it's just me, Marcus Potter," he quickly said.

            She stilled again, but her wand stayed up, ready.  She looked at him, but Marcus knew she still wasn't seeing him.

            "It's okay," he said quietly, daring to take another step closer.

            She looked back at her father, then at Marcus.  This time Marcus was almost positive she saw him.  She again looked at her father as she whispered.  "I did that."

            "It's alright," Marcus said.  "Let's go to Hogwarts.  Madam Pomfrey will take care of your cuts, and then we'll figure out where to go from there."

            Jessica looked back up at him, the blue in her eyes becoming even more pronounced.  She then glanced at Casey.

            "We'll take him to Hogwarts too," Marcus said without even looking behind himself.  "But we've got to leave now because he needs help."

            She nodded and started walking towards Marcus.  She stopped though when a number of people ran into the study.  When Marcus turned, he discovered all of the Dark Operators and Andorra Dumbledore.  When they scanned the site, there were several types of reactions, but Marcus was thankful they were all quiet.  He had a feeling any type of loud noise right now would startle Jessica.  Glancing at the girl again (who now stood stock-still as she stared at the newcomers), Marcus realized she was in shock.  He didn't know what would happen when it wore off, but whatever would happen, Marcus knew, would not be a pretty sight.  They had to get Jessica out of here before that happened.

            "Jessica," Marcus said.  It took about a minute for her response to come.  She turned her head.  In front of her face, he slowly put his hand on her shoulder.  "Let's go," he said quietly.

            Daniel looked up from attending Casey.  He glanced in surprise at his team and his boss before he looked at Jessica.  "Oh, Merlin," he breathed as he crawled up to her.  Everyone in the room got an even bigger shock as Jessica backed away in fear.

            Not hesitating, Daniel said, "Jesse, honey, it's me.  It's okay.  It's your Uncle Danny."  Daniel glanced at his brother-in-law before looking back at Jessica.  "You're safe now," he whispered.

            "It's a nice illusion, isn't it?"  Jessica said so quietly that only Daniel and Marcus heard.  "Safety is an illusion."

            Marcus glanced at Daniel's face to see the man give his niece a weird look before he said, "Your brother's hurt.  Let's go to Hogwarts.  It's safe there.  You know it is."  Daniel looked at Jessica in silence for a second before he glanced at Marcus.  "Can you carry Case?  I'll carry Jessica."

            Marcus nodded, grabbed the Christmas ornament out of his pocket, and went over to grab the 11-year old.  As he did that, Daniel turned back to the doorway.  "Guys, it's a crim…" Daniel glanced at his niece briefly before amending, "it's a scene here.  Treat it like one.  We're going to Hogwarts."

            Andorra and Riley were the first to catch their bearings.  Riley came forward and started examining the area around the desk.  Marcus was sure he started there because it was behind Jessica, and therefore she wouldn't see him.  Andorra went over to check Jeffery's vitals.

            Daniel picked Jessica up, who went rather limp when he did that.  Andorra spoke as Daniel and Marcus, both with kids in their arms, started towards the door.  "I'll come and check on the kids when everything gets underway here," she said.

            Daniel nodded at her and turned to head with Marcus out to the hall to use the Portkey (not under the watchful eyes of everyone).  It was when Jessica's eyes caught something behind Daniel that she snapped.

            As she started what was about to become an almighty struggle for Jessica's life, Marcus made quick work of getting all their hands on the ornament.

*          *          *

            All through the meal, Severus noticed James and Sirius pass curious looks to each other.  The conversation at the dinner table could not get any more phoney, Severus thought.  The adults were trying to pretend that they all just _happened_ to decide Christmas dinner at Hogwarts was a good idea, and it was only a mere coincidence that they _all_ decided this.

            The only person that acted as though nothing was the matter was Dumbledore, who acted his casual self with the mere exception of the looks he exchanged with Brittany Potter, whom, Severus noticed, had seemed to get more anxious as time wore on and kept glancing at the Christmas tree near the entrance of the Hall.

            But then it happened.  What everyone appeared to be waiting for.  It was just after the dinner plates had been cleared and dessert had been served.  Everyone was dishing up what they wanted when Marcus Potter and Jessica's overly tall uncle appeared out of a Portkey that was located on the tree.  Each man was holding a kid, kids that Severus quickly saw were both injured quite badly.

            In Danny's arms was Jessica, who was thrashing about and screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs.  She seemed oblivious to the blood that covered her face and spots on her body.  Suddenly, though, Jessica grabbed at the front of Mr. Potter's robes, right above a young boy's limp body.  Danny pulled her back, but more towards the wall, where she saw an opportunity.  She pushed her feet against the wall, sending her uncle flying onto his rump, a thud echoing in the room.  Despite the fact that the fall had to be very painful, Danny kept his hold on Jessica.  That is when Severus (and everyone else in the room) saw that she had her wand.  At this point, the adults seemed to snap out of their shock.  When Dumbledore and McGonagall stood up, they blocked Severus' view for a minute, but he could figure out what went on from what he heard.

            "Ava—"

            The words became muffled.  When Dumbledore and McGonagall moved, Severus saw the muffled noise was because Danny had put a hand over Jessica's mouth.  Despite that, her wand was still pointed at her own heart.

            Danny suddenly roared in pain, but he kept his hand over Jessica's mouth.

            "Somebody subdue her!"  He yelled.  Jessica unexpectedly lunged towards the door, causing Danny to turn to keep his hold on her, successfully putting Danny between Jessica and the teachers.

            Jessica was however able to struggle completely free for a second and started again, "Avada—"

            Danny lunged on her again, startling her into a momentary silence.

            Severus himself suddenly snapped out of his own trance and, not quite knowing what he was going to do, he got up and walked around the table just as Professor Rum and Professor Dumbledore were both starting forward to attempt to help.  Severus knew it would be too difficult to help without accidentally injuring Danny.  Every time Jessica was in place for a spell from one of the professors, she was able to spin around too suddenly and quickly, placing Danny as her human shield.

The teachers didn't see him right away, which allowed Severus to bypass them and place himself next to Danny without incident.  Severus heard his father say his name, but he ignored him.

            "Jessica," Severus said quietly.  She stopped struggling momentarily.  Severus knelt near her face, which was presently getting smooshed against the ground.  He held out his hand and brushed it against the still damp blood streaking down her cheek.  When her eyes looked up at him, they were blue and defeated.

            Severus put his wand to her forehead and said, "Selavia," putting Jessica into a Bewitched Sleep.

            When Severus stood back up, he noticed that everyone was silently staring at him.  He looked back at Mr. Potter and noticed who was in his arms.  It was Casey, and he and the front of Mr. Potter's robes were covered in blood.  "What's wrong with Casey?"  He asked worriedly as Danny got off Jessica.

            Mr. Potter didn't answer him directly but rather turned to Madam Pomfrey.  "He needs help right away.  We're not sure what Jeffery did to him, but I'm guessing from the injuries it was the Cruciatus Curse."

            Madam Pomfrey was quick to snap to attention.  "Bring him to the Hospital Wing, Mr. Potter," she said before glancing at Danny, who had picked up his niece again.  Severus noticed that the uncle's hand was bleeding profusely, and he was being careful of using the palm side to directly hold Jessica.  "Bring her too, Mr. Montgomery, as well as yourself."

            Mr. Potter and Danny, children in hand, followed her out.  They were followed by the unknown couple, as well as Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Black, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Rum.  Professor McGonagall stopped Severus from following.

            "That was a very dangerous stunt you pulled, Mr. Snape," she admonished.

            Severus gave her a scathing look.  "I wasn't trying to pull a stunt, Professor."

            "I realize that, but it was very dangerous.  She was hysterical.  She could have killed you then killed herself."

            "I don't think she would have killed me, Professor, hysterical or not.  She only meant herself, and I believe that I might have stopped that for now."

            "Minerva, it's done and over with," Mr. Black said.  "The boy and Ziners are both still alive.  Let's move on."

            Before McGonagall could respond, Severus felt a hand on his other shoulder.  He turned to see his father.

            "Come on, Sev," he said.  "Let's go wait up outside the Hospital Wing for news."

            Severus nodded matter-of-factly, and the two Snapes took off, followed by Mr. Black, Sirius, James, and then the rest of the professors.

*          *          *

            Daniel was numb.  The men waited while Madam Pomfrey, Molly Weasley, Amelia Black, and Brittany Potter tended to the kids.  Outside the Wing stood Arthur Weasley, Marcus Potter, Gary Rum, and Albus Dumbledore.  They were all quiet.

            Finally, Daniel broke the silence.  "How long have you suspected, Arthur?"

            Arthur jumped before almost saying 'what' then biting back.  He was silent a minute before he said, "We…uh…we started wondering shortly before Madeline's death."

            "Why didn't you say anything to me?"  Daniel asked, his voice still so low it was hard to hear him, even in the silent hallway.

            "We weren't…we weren't even sure something was going on.  We only had suspicions.  Then, with Madeline's death…we didn't want to upset things even more with an allegation we thought for a long time to probably be false.  We didn't stop wondering…but we probably didn't want to believe it as much as you don't right now."

            Before Daniel could reply, Michael Snape, Malcolm Black, the children, and the rest of the professors all came up the steps.  Daniel looked at them and became silent, returning to stare at the ground

            "How are the kids, Marcus?"  Malcolm Black asked.

            "Don't know for sure yet, except that Jessica's physical injuries seem recoverable from…we're not so sure about Casey," the last was finished off in a whisper.

            Malcolm gave a brisk nod.  Though he was more an efficient man rather than one dragged down by emotions, everyone did notice that he was concerned about the kids.

            "How about you, Daniel?"  Malcolm asked, looking at the hand Daniel now had wrapped in a bandage.

            "It's alright," he shrugged.  "Just a little bite."  Though Daniel could tell that those that had seen the blood pouring out from his hand earlier didn't believe his brush-off.

            They waited in silence for a number of minutes before Malcolm asked, "What happened exactly?"

            "We don't know yet except that Jeffery Ziners is dead, and we think that Jessica Ziners did it…"

            Marcus became silent when they heard a few sets of brisk footsteps making their way up the stairs and then down the hall to the Hospital Wing.  Everyone turned to see Ignatius Malfoy making his way down the hall, flanked by a now constant set of Aurors that were to act as his protection. 

            "Potter!"  Malfoy called.  "What on earth happened?!  I just received word that Jeffery Ziners is dead, and both his children have vanished.  There are witnesses upon witnesses that put you at the scene, and I'm not sure I can protect you again—"

            Marcus would have responded if his jaw had not dropped at the sheer audacity of what was about to come out of the Minister-in-acting's mouth.  It was Malcolm that cut him off.

            "Shut up the hell up, Malfoy," he growled loudly.  "A child in there," he pointed towards the Hospital, "is on the brink of life and death.  We do not need you out here shouting like a lunatic."

            Ignatius seemed about to refute the point before it sank in.  He glanced at the ward before looking back at Malcolm.  He decided though to turn back to Marcus.

            "I'm getting reports," he hissed loudly, "that it was either you that killed Jeffery, Montgomery here, or one of the children.  As your boss, I expect to know—"

            "There was abuse going on in the home.  I received permission to try to take care of the situation before you became Minister.  I checked.  Everything is legal and within my rights as the third in command of England's Magical Law Enforcement to have continued my investigation without your knowledge," there was a deadly tone in Marcus' voice that only got darker as he spoke.

            Ignatius stood quietly for a long time.  He was much taller than Marcus was and tried to glare the Auror down.  He had no such luck.  Finally, he said, "I demand to speak with Miss Ziners," and started towards the Hospital Wing.  Danny started to cut him off, but he needn't to as a voice sounded from down the hallway, one much more effective at stopping the Minister and his two Aurors than any blockade Daniel's body could have been.

            "You enter that ward, Mr. Malfoy, and you will get a demonstration as to why I am the most feared Magical Law Enforcement Officer in America."

            Everyone turned to see Andorra Dumbledore walking up, a lethal look upon her pretty features.  Ignatius stopped a moment and glared at her, seeming to have every intention to scare her down, but the look on her face gave him a momentary pause, one in which Andorra stepped through with language he would understand.  

            "According to the International Warlock Convention of 1908, those kids are still citizens of the United States and under my jurisdiction.  And according to your own laws, the only people in the country of England that have absolutely any authority whatsoever over the Ziners children are the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who do not need to heed a word the Ministry says."

            Ignatius turned to Dumbledore and looked about to say something, but stopped himself when Albus looked ready to receive it.  He turned to Malcolm, which Marcus would think later was probably just as dangerous a choice.

            "As a school governor, you see the dangers raised to the other students with potential murderers sitting in their Hospital Ward.  These children should be taken into custody."

            No one noticed the look Rum gave Medley and no one equally noticed the young man's avoidance of it.

            "Save your breath, Malfoy.  I am acting upon the authority of all the school governors that the children have permission to stay here.  I can produce a decree if you so want," Malcolm pronounced the last words very tersely.  

            Ignatius finally decided to brave Albus.  "Headmaster Dumbledore," he said his voice tense with anger.  "You sure see the danger these kids pose…"

            "Every child with a wand is a danger, Minister," Albus replied in a quiet, unruffled manner.  "It is not the wand that makes them dangerous but rather the mind.  I have full confidence that whatever happened in the Ziners' home back in America was merely a child trying to save her brother's life, and, in my opinion, that is a quality that should be admired rather than feared." 

            Ignatius was the one to become ruffled.  He threw his grey-eyed glare back on Andorra, "I demand to speak with the Secretary of Magic!  This instant!" he yelled, starting to advance on her.

            Andorra never once flinched.  "You are," she responded.

            Ignatius stopped dead, looking incredibly puzzled.  So did everyone else in the hallway except Marcus, Daniel, and Albus.

            "But…"  Ignatius started.

            "Eight days ago, Jonathon Ziners was arrested for treason, leaking information, assisting in murder, and assisting in torture.  So were George Lemore and Rick Grens, his assistants.  The heads of all the departments voted me in as acting secretary."

            A taut silence filled the room then, only to be broken by Madam Pomfrey's entrance into the hallway.  She glanced around at the people for a half a minute before she looked at Dumbledore.  "Sir, a request if I may…"

            Albus nodded.

            "Can someone go fetch a young man at St. Mungo's, a Healer named Rohan Figg?  He's a smart young man.  After he graduated here, he studied extensively with the Aurors to heal people from many of the spells dark witches and wizards use.  He has an extensive knowledge on injuries from a Cruciatus Curse."

            Dumbledore nodded, but Stephen Medley spoke up for the first time.  "I'll go and get him," he said and left without another word to the group.

            "How are they?"  Daniel asked.

            Madam Pomfrey looked at him before glancing down then around the curious faces of the group, pointedly ignoring Malfoy and his two goons.

            "Physically, Jessica will heal.  She has a number of lacerations on her body.  I believe that they are from the Strickiomus Jinx.  The injury on her head I think is from it hitting upon a blunt object.  Overall, she will heal and survive."

            When she stopped, Marcus asked, "And Casey?"

            "I don't know yet, Mr. Potter," she said quietly, starting to turn around.  Daniel grabbed her arm though.

            "Madam Pomfrey, can I ask you to do something without you questioning it?"  Daniel asked so quietly that Marcus, Dumbledore, and Arthur were the only ones beyond Madam Pomfrey that heard.

            She gave him a confused look before nodding.  "If I can…"

            "Move Jessica closer to her brother.  Put them in the same bed if you have to.  It should help Casey heal."

            Though the confused look was still there, she nodded.  "When we finish putting ointment on Casey's lacerations, I will see if I can," she said before going back into the ward.

            Daniel ignored the looks he got when he turned back around.

            Ignatius started back down the hallway, his goons in tight tow, but he stopped when he was even with Andorra.  "This isn't over, Dumbledore, not by a long shot.  I will not have two murderers sitting in the prestigious Hogwarts on my watch."  He took off.

            Once he was gone, Andorra fairly rolled her eyes.  "Is he joking, or is he delusional?"  She asked to no one in particular.  "Does he really honestly think I'm afraid of him?"

            Everyone chuckled.

            "How is everything going back in the States?"  Marcus asked Andorra.

            "I appointed Riley Haderson head of the investigation.  The evidence in the house is pretty much an open and shut case.  We're going to have to get the rest from the kids," she replied, causing Daniel to look up.

            Andorra gave him a grim look.  "I'm sorry, Daniel, but just because they are who they are does not mean we can treat them differently."  She turned to her brother.  "Albus, with your permission, and yours too, Mr. Black," she said with a glance at Malcolm, "if I am going to be able to allow these kids to attend the rest of the school year (something I think would probably be better and safer for them), I'm going to have to put them under a house arrest.  I will need to appoint 24-hour supervision to stay in the school.  They won't have to follow the kids around, but rather to check on things occasionally."  She looked specifically at her brother again.  "Albus, it's possible to apply the Home Arrest Jinx for both Jessica and Casey in Hogwarts, isn't it?"

            He nodded.

            "Then I'll do that so they don't have Aurors constantly on their tails…with both of yours' permissions of course."  She looked between Albus and Malcolm.

            "I'll have to talk to the other governors on that one," Malcolm said.  "I'm not entirely certain they will remain helpful after they find out what happened."

            Andorra nodded before glancing at Albus.  "I'll have to ask the teachers," he said.

            Again, Andorra nodded before saying, "If not, I will have to take the children into custody back in the States."

            Silence ensued that declaration.

*          *          *

            "I'm looking for Rohan Figg," Stephen Medley said to the Welcome Witch behind the counter.

            "You and everyone else," she growled.  "He doesn't do house calls—"

            "Stephen Medley?"  Came a laugh behind Stephen.

            Stephen turned to his old housemate with a small smile.  Rohan Figg and he had been in the same year at school, both in Gryffindor.  Rohan was a tall man, as tall as Stephen was, with a dark complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes.  Stephen remembered him as being an extremely smart fellow with a rich sense of humour.  

            "Good to see you, Rohan," he said, the grimness of his mission coming over him again.  "You're needed at Hogwarts.  A student's been injured."

            Without hesitating, Rohan beckoned Stephen to follow him to his office.  "Just let me grab my bag."  They started down a long hallway.  "What happened to the student?"  Rohan asked.

            "I'm not sure of the exact situation, but I'll tell you what I know.  It's an 11-year old boy named Casey Ziners.  We have reason to believe it was the Cruciatus that injured him."

            "Spider-web-like cuts?"  Rohan asked as they entered his messy office.  He reached beside his desk to grab a small black bag.

            Stephen nodded.  "Yeah.  I'm guessing they're all over his body as his clothes were soaked in blood."

            "How about his arms?"  Rohan asked as they started back down the hallway.

            "From what I saw, it looks as though the cuts were just beyond his elbows."

            Stephen didn't like the look Rohan threw at him as they exited the hospital.

*          *          *

            Riley Haderson showed up with Mark Halmer but both seemed reluctant to walk into the fray.  Daniel spotted them however and waved them forward.  Riley walked the distance cautiously.

            "Can I see Jessica's wand?"  He asked.

Before Daniel could respond, Marcus handed over Jessica's wand, which had been sitting in a pocket of his robes.

            Riley gripped it tightly before looking at Andorra then Albus.  "Is there a room we can use for a few minutes," Riley nodded towards Mark, "one that will give us some privacy?"

            Albus nodded and showed him to a room down the hall.  As the Headmaster walked back after shutting the door, Stephen and another man came up the stairs, one Marcus recognized as Rohan Figg, a young man soon becoming a world-renowned Healer.  The man nodded towards Albus.

            "Hello, Professor."

            "Hello, Rohan," Dumbledore greeted warmly, but there was no mistaking the worried note to his voice.

            "The boy in the ward?"  Rohan asked and started towards it when Dumbledore nodded.

            It was a few minutes after Rohan disappeared when Riley and Mark came out of the room down the hall.  Riley looked at Daniel as though to speak of his findings but remembered the situation at the last minute and reluctantly turned to Andorra.  

            "Miss Dumbledore," Riley said and nodded down the hall.  Andorra joined the men as they made the trek once again.  Marcus watched as the three conversed but nothing could be told by the seasoned Aurors.  Like good Aurors, they rarely showed a lot of emotion in public.  

            When the three finished, Riley and Mark left, and Andorra came back down the hall and asked to speak with Daniel privately. 

            It would be many hours before Marcus discovered what was said between Daniel and Andorra, and even more time before Rohan would emerge from the hospital ward with a verdict, one that no one would like.

*          *          *

            It was going onto eleven p.m., three hours after the children were brought to Hogwarts.  Rohan Figg was still in the Hospital Ward with the children, only having emerged twice, once to send an owl, the second to receive the package that the owl had brought back.  Madam Pomfrey, Molly Weasley, and Brittany Potter were with Rohan and the kids.  Arthur had went back to take their kids from his parents.

            James had gone home with the Blacks, who secured promises from those at Hogwarts to notify them once they had news on the condition of the children, whether it be medical or legal.  Andorra Dumbledore had decided to go back as well, securing a similar promise as the Blacks.            

            Marcus, who was still prowling the halls of Hogwarts, decided to walk to the Hospital Wing, only to discover Daniel sitting outside the Hospital on a chair.  

            "How are the kids doing?"  

Daniel looked up at him, startled, before shrugging.  "I don't know yet."  Daniel resumed staring at an undetermined spot before him.

"Mind if I join you?"  Marcus asked.

Daniel shook his head.  "That's fine."

Marcus conjured a chair next to his friend before sitting.  After a time sitting in silence, Marcus spoke.

"Why did you ask Madam Pomfrey earlier for the kids to be near each other?"

Daniel glanced at Marcus and seemed as though he were about to deny it before remembering what the Auror had revealed earlier this evening, a time that seemed ages ago for both.  "With the Mighty Bloods," Daniel said quietly, "the siblings have a connection.  Part of this connection is that the siblings almost feed off each other's power.  While Jessica, being the elder, gets more, Casey does get a bit himself.  When one is hurt—"

"Being near their sibling gives them a little bit more strength to heal," Marcus put together.

Daniel nodded.  "Exactly."

The two lapsed in to a few moments more of silence before Marcus asked another question.

"Molly Weasley is Jessica's Godmother, right?"  
            Daniel nodded.

"How did that happen?  Having a friendship with either Jeffery or Madeline seems an odd thing for a woman that has to at least be ten years their junior."

The Auror's shoulders moved in a shrug again.  "Molly was a friend of Maddie's.  They hit it off when they met.  After graduating Hogwarts, Madeline and Jeffery stayed in England a few years.  They went through some rough times those first few years of marriage.  That's when Madeline decided to take up Gary Rum's offer."

"As his assistant," Marcus said, knowing because he had been a student then, just 15 when he had met the warm Madeline.  She had been such a contrast to the dark and angry Potions Master, and it had amazed him (and the rest of the school) that the two were actually friends.

Daniel nodded.  "Molly started attending Hogwarts five years after that I believe.  Molly was horrible at Potions, so Madeline tutored her.  The two hit it off right away."  Daniel paused a long moment before saying quietly, "I think Madeline told Molly things that she never even told me."

Daniel stopped but seemed to be in such deep thought that Marcus remained silent.  Finally, Daniel said, "They're going to charge Jesse with premeditated murder."

The dramatic shift in topics, along with the even more dramatic announcement, left Marcus momentarily speechless.

"Riley's a good Auror, so I guess I should trust his judgement, but…"  Daniel shook his head.  "This is Jesse.  I can't imagine her…why didn't she ever tell me?"

Marcus thought a long time before responding.  "That's something you need to ask Jessica, but I suspect it was because she was scared of her father."

"There were times when it was just me, her, and Casey.  Their father couldn't hurt them then.  Why didn't they tell me _then_?"

A sudden memory popped into Marcus' head.  He had been in the file room one day, looking up a man suspected of being a Voldemort affiliate when he had seen a file marked, 'Ziners, Jeffery.'  These files he had been looking in were dossiers compiled on people suspected of performing dark magic illegally.  The name, though he had heard the suspicions, had surprised him.  Probably because the children didn't seem the type.  Only the man himself did.  However, being under the watchful eye of the guard, Marcus didn't dare pick the file up as he so badly had wanted to.

Maybe Jessica couldn't speak to her uncle because, even if their father was prosecuted and sent to prison without ever being close enough to touch a hair on their heads, there was someone still out there to get revenge for him.  Marcus hadn't thought about that before.  He had thought removing the kids and bringing them to Hogwarts would make them feel safe enough to talk…thinking about it now, if things had worked out differently, they might never have talked—

They still might not.

Suddenly, several thoughts careened into Marcus' head, but he had not time to examine a one as the door to the Hospital Ward opened.

"Mr. Montgomery, can I speak to you alone for a minute?"  Rohan Figg asked, his face unreadable.

Daniel nodded and immediately got up to follow Rohan back into the Hospital Ward.

*          *          *

            It was ten minutes later when Rohan stepped back into the hall to speak with Marcus and who else the Auror had gathered at Rohan's request: Professor Dumbledore and Professor Rum.

            "Jessica will heal physically.  Mentally is another story that we will deal with tomorrow morning when she wakes."

            "And Casey?"  Marcus asked.

            Rohan looked down as he paused.  He looked back up however to respond.  "He's another one we cannot be sure of until he awakes."

            "Your assessment however?"  Gary asked.

            Rohan shook his head slightly.  "I'm afraid that I will be utterly amazed if he's coherent when he awakes.  With his size, taking the Cruciatus for as long as he did, I don't think his mind possibly could have handled it.  I'm surprised there is still a heart beat."

            "But this is only your assessment?"  Gary questioned.

            Rohan nodded.  "I consent that I could be wrong, when the boy awakes…whenever that might be…he could tell me his own name and birth date, as well as other things but I don't want to get your hopes up.  I've seen people with fewer injuries from a Cruciatus not come out of it."

            Albus sighed.  "But until then, we won't know for sure."  The Headmaster turned to Marcus.  "I suggest you go home and get some sleep, Mr. Potter.  You will have a very busy day tomorrow, I am certain."

            Marcus nodded in agreement.

            "I will, but now, as well as morning, I will check on the children."

            After bidding bye, he went into the Hospital Ward to do as said, and then fetch his wife.

            Dumbledore turned to Rohan, but before the Headmaster could speak, Rohan held up his hands.  "I'm going to St. Mungo's first to set up a schedule for some Healers I trust.  I want someone here around the clock.  Not that I don't trust Poppy, but there are two kids, and that's twice the trouble."  Rohan gave a small smile to Albus.  "And then it's home I go…until morning that is.  I have some training in psychology, and I'm guessing when the girl awakes, that might be of use."

            Albus nodded and the two professors bid the Healer farewell.  Albus then looked at Gary.

            "Don't tell me to get some sleep because you know I haven't slept well in almost thirty years."

            Albus merely nodded.  "I was just going to tell you not to stay in the Hospital Ward all night."

            "I was actually planning on making some potions to kill pain.  They might come in as much use as Mr. Figg's training in psychology."

            "Make sure you get rest though as I imagine Miss Ziners' trust of you might make you even handier than psychology and pain killing potions."

            Gary sighed.

*          *          *

It was an ugly site.  Two horrible stories, same day news.  But one was meant to counteract the other.  

Andorra had moved up the news release of Jonathon Ziners' arrest by one day in order to counteract the story of Jeffery Ziners' murder.  However, knowing that the reporters might seize on the opportunity that both major stories were interrelated because of the family connection, Andorra made a deal with the reporters that if they were to keep the stories separate, preferably with Jeffery Ziners' story on a page other than the front, they would get some interviews for the story on Jonathon Ziners.

And it happened the way Andorra had wanted it to.  The headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet and The Times, America's main magical newspaper, both read in big, bold print something to the effect of "Treason at the High Levels."  Jeffery Ziners' murder was on page two.

*          *          *

            Jessica didn't want to open an eye.  She hurt like the devil, and it was this that assured her that the last time she remembered being awake wasn't a nightmare.

            She felt a warm pressure next to her, and instinctively, she knew it was Casey.  Still keeping her eyes closed, she listened and heard a slightly wheezy noise, confirming that Casey was still temporarily breathing.

           Jessica decided that it was time to face the music.  She opened her eyes then shut them quickly at the viewing of light.  Her hand quickly reached up and rubbed her eyes.  

            "Oh, forgive me," she heard a male voice.  "I was just trying to see your brother's cuts better."

            The light dimmed, and Jessica was able to open her eyes again.  She blinked when they still stung.  "It's the potion that you got this morning," the man said again, but Jessica still couldn't see him.  "Do you remember waking up?"

            In response, Jessica shook her head.

            "It's to be expected.  You were in a lot of pain."

            Refraining from responding with 'I still am,' she said instead, "Who are you?"

            "Rohan Figg.  I'm a Healer from St. Mungo's."

            Jessica was finally able to focus in on the man when he stood over her.  He was tall and darker-skinned, as though he were very tanned.  He had dark hair, dark eyes, and was giving Jessica an intent look that annoyed her.

            "Still at Hogwarts, right?" she asked in attempt to hopefully distract him from dissecting her, something he looked like he was going to do any second now.

            Figg nodded.  

            Jessica all of a sudden felt a need for her wand.  Then she remembered what she had done yesterday before…Severus…had put her into a Bewitched Sleep.  She had been about to kill herself because…because she had finally done it.  She had killed him.  _Her father_.  He was dead.  And she had done it.

            He had said it once.  One day she would realize that this was the path she was meant to take, so she might as well accept it sooner rather than later.  But, no, her mind had screamed.  She was not like them.  She was not a killer like Father or like Tom.

            But she was now.  And she needed to end that.

            Jessica sat up and looked around for her wand.

            "What is it?"  Figg asked.

            "My wand," she said, her voice sounding dry.

            He handed her a cup of water.

            "My wand?" she said again, not taking a sip.

            Figg gestured towards the cup of water, and assuming that he wouldn't answer her until she did as ordered, she took a sip of water before saying, yet again, "My wand?"

            Figg shook his head.  "You'll get it back in due time," he said.

            That's what they do, Jessica thought to herself, when someone is dangerous.  She was dangerous.  To them, of course.  

            Jessica looked around for her brother's wand.

            "His is with yours," Figg answered as he picked up a file off the end of the next bed.  Jessica assumed it was hers.

            No mercy, she thought.  That's what they did to the criminals.

            Jessica suddenly looked at her brother.  His eyes were still closed, his glasses gone.  She reached for his hand and lifted the whole arm up upon grabbing it.  She ran her hand down the forearm, lifting at the sleeve of his hospital gown, causing it to drop completely.  There were ugly cracks running the length of his upper arm, causing Jessica to swallow as a memory flashed through her head.  She stopped it and glanced at her brother's other arm.

            "Is he going to be alright?"  Jessica asked, not looking away from Casey.

            When Figg didn't answer, she turned her head towards him to catch him quickly go back to her report as though he had been too engrossed to hear her.

            Jessica didn't get time to confront him as Uncle Danny walked into the room.

            "Jesse," he said, his voice filled with relief as he started towards her.  Her tensing caused him to slow however, and, instead of embracing her as he probably would have done, he just took a seat on the chair next to Casey's bed, the chair closest to Jessica's side.  Jessica didn't look at him until he didn't speak.  He was giving her a weird look.  It had concern, but it also had confusion.  Jessica looked back at her feet.

*          *          *

            "I've got to ask her."

            "So soon?"  Came Daniel's exasperated response.

            Rohan sighed again.  "Yes.  It's best not to let it sit silent in her for a long time.  The sooner she talks about it, the sooner she can deal with it."  For the first time since their conversation started, Daniel looked about to give in.  Rohan continued quickly, "No Aurors in there.  I'm not the Ministry.  I just want to help her deal with it.  The Aurors, the Ministry, the Department, and the newspapers are all going to ask her, which is something we cannot help.  The sooner she deals with it with someone who wants to help, the better she'll be able to handle the others."

            After a long pause, Daniel finally nodded.  He wasn't looking directly at Rohan as he said, "Fine, but don't expect her to say much.  She's too much like her mother."  Daniel gave a fond smile to the air on that note before frowning darkly.  "Thinks she can handle the world alone, on her own two shoulders.  She won't want help."

            Rohan nodded.  "But all we can do is try," he said diplomatically.

            Daniel concurred, glancing at the young Healer.  "Yes, all we can do is that."  He nodded towards the Hospital Ward.  "I'll wait out here if you need me."

            Rohan nodded and turned back into the Ward, making sure the door closed behind him.

            He casually walked over to Jessica's file, which was still attached to her original bed.  He was very much aware of the young girl's eyes on him as he moved through the Ward.  Madam Pomfrey had taken a lunch break, so, other than Casey, they were only two in the room.  Rohan had already gotten the impression that the girl trusted no one, not even her own uncle, despite his own self-denial of that fact.

            "Hello, Jessica," Rohan said as he glanced over her file.

            "You weren't gone long enough for the greeting to be warranted," came a cold response.

            Rohan threw the girl a grin and managed to fare through the frosty look the 12-year old gave him.  He did end up frowning at her though.

            "What did I do?"  He asked, reattaching the file to the bed.  He gave up the pretence of casual conversation and just looked straight at the girl.

            She looked a little surprised at the direct question, but responded with, "I don't know yet.  What did you do?"  
            Rohan gave a small smile.  "You are one of those kids that compete for most detentions, aren't you?"

            A ghost of smile she couldn't control was on her face but gone before she replied, "Not really.  The detentions seem to find me quite frequently however."

            Rohan chuckled.

            She frowned even further before nodding at her brother.  "The edges of his hair are greying.  Why?"

            "The Cruciatus does that sometimes."

            "If he lives, will he go prematurely grey?"  She asked this very seriously.  The irony of the sentence – her brother was on the edge of life and death, and she, a 12-year old girl, was asking if he would go prematurely grey – amused Rohan.  He didn't let it show however.

            "Though the greying edges of his hair will be permanent, he won't go prematurely grey earlier than most people who do go prematurely grey."  Rohan paused a second before asking, "Do you think it will bother him any?"

            A very small smile but she never glanced at her brother, keeping her suspicious eyes on Rohan.  "No.  He'll probably think it will make him look regal."

            Rohan smiled.  He thought about sitting on the edge of the bed, but she had been so jumpy when anyone got near her, he didn't want to risk this new easy rapport.

            "Are you tired?"

            Jessica shook her head, but Rohan thought she was lying.

            "Is your head still hurting?"  He asked, giving a small nod towards the bandage on her forehead.

            She shook her head again, and, again, Rohan thought she was lying.  The suspicious look in her eyes got even deeper, making the brown in her eyes stand out so prominently they changed the blue colouring of her eyes almost completely.

            Rohan thought it was time to get to the subject of concern, but he was at a momentarily loss of exactly how to ask the question.  He thought it probably best to seem ready to back down so as not to corner a girl already feeling backed into a corner, but he couldn't seem weak otherwise the aggressive part of her personality that he sensed would walk all over him. 

            "Jessica, do you remember what happened yesterday?"  He asked with a soft, gentle voice.  Alternatively, he never wavered in looking at the girl.

            She, although, did waver before looking at her feet.  Rohan waited five minutes, but only in vain.  She did not utter a sound.  Her breathing remained even, but her eyes never returned directly to Rohan's.  When he moved nearer to the bed by a step, he knew that she knew it.  He sensed that Jessica was very perceptive of movements that she considered threatening.  He gave her credit now that she never flinched.  

But suddenly Rohan understood.  She was acting weak, but she wasn't right now.  If Rohan had not been around Aurors, worked with them, ate with them, lived with them, all of his adult life, he would, like most others, have been taken in by Jessica's weak movements.  But whereas she had been flinching when anyone got near her, now she was not.  This was the strong Jessica.  It was a sign that her father never managed to break down her keenest defence – her mind.  She knew how to act to get what she wanted out of other people.  If she acted weak, sad, and scared, they would leave her alone for now.

            But Rohan wasn't planning on backing down for a short bit yet.

            "I think you do," he said.  He, again, paused for a time, not really expecting a response and not getting any.  "They say that an Auror's first killing is what makes or breaks an Auror.  It is of the utmost importance that they talk about it with someone who understands, someone who's been there.  I've had my share of Auror experience, Jessica.  I've been there, done that, you could say.  When you decide to talk, I'm here.  You need to do it sooner rather than later though, Jessica.  You are about to get a number of people wanting to know what went on, including the investigators."  Rohan paused for a second before finally deciding to reveal, "Riley Haderson is investigating the case."  Rohan was surprised to see her flinch at that.  It was the only thing that had cracked the "weak Jessica".  Rohan decided to remember that, but leave it for now.  "He needs to know what happened before they put you on trial, Jessica, because they are going to have to put you on trial."

            Rohan waited another good five minutes, and when he still received no response, he spoke again, and, again, his voice was soft and gentle as before.  "There are a lot of people worried about you, Jessica.  They are confused, and you are the only one that holds the answer.  They want to understand what happened, and they want to help you get through it.  They can only help when you trust them.  They hold nothing against you.  _They do not hold it against you_."

            Rohan looked at Jessica before glancing at her brother.  He decided to leave her alone for now.

*          *          * 

            "Hey, Professor."

            Gary didn't spare the girl a look as he set the bundle of potions he had brought with him on Madam Pomfrey's desk.  With the exception of the still unconscious Casey, they were alone in the ward.  

"Oh, so now we decide to talk."

            "What's that suppose to mean?"  She asked, sounding mildly offended.

            He finally looked at her when he approached the bed.  He stood near the end of the bed and crossed his arms.  "Apparently, you have lapsed into a silence since lunch."

            Jessica looked away with a shrug.  "They were asking me questions I didn't want to answer."

            "So instead of telling them you do not want to answer, you stop speaking?"  He replied, making sure to sound admonishing.

            But she didn't back down.  "What do you expect me to do?  Tell them I won't answer?  That would just encourage them to fight with me.  Sorry, but I haven't made wit and nastiness an art form like you have.  People don't look for ways around asking me questions like they do for you."

            Gary raised his eyebrows at her.  She just smirked back at him.

            Jessica glanced away and sighed, turning very serious.  "Haven't you ever done anything where you just need to think about it yourself before saying it?  Something you aren't even sure you can put into words…not because there aren't words, but because it's…," her voice gradually moved to a strangled whisper, "because you're afraid to hear it, afraid of what you did, afraid you'll break when you hear it, and, at that moment, you just can't break, can't let any—"

            "Yes, Miss Ziners," Gary said quietly, interrupting her because he knew that she needed to be interrupted.  "But, from my own experiences, I will tell you not to wait too long, because, if you do, you may not ever be able to tell it."

            Jessica looked back at her professor.  "Were you ever able to say what you waited too long to tell?"

            Gary looked at the girl for a very long time but finally shook his head.  "No, I wasn't.  I'm not sure I even remember it well."

            "Too many nightmares?"  She asked, and it scared Gary how, at that moment, she understood something about him.  He didn't respond.

            "I won't ever tell the Ministry, or the Department, or Danny, or Riley…"

            "One day, you will have to, Miss Ziners.  But first, practice on someone you would trust with your life," Gary advised.

            And though Gary had meant for no response, Jessica answered with a self-depreciating smile.  "Because, this story is your life, and you must trust them not to break it."

            Gary nodded.  He waited a moment, wanting to say something more, but, in the end, he smiled at Jessica.  "Get better."

            She smiled back, and Gary left.

*          *          *

            Daniel woke with a start.  He must have really dozed off because it took him a minute to figure out what had woken him.  A little girl had crawled into his lap.

            "It's okay, Uncle Danny.  It's just me," Jessica said as she curled into a ball on his lap, lying against his chest.  Danny started to wrap his arms around her but was halted when she grabbed his injured hand.  She touched the bandage so incredibly gently that he wouldn't have known she had done it if he hadn't watched her do it.

            "Does it hurt?"  She whispered.

            "No," he whispered back.

            Then, in an action that made his breath catch, she brought his hand to her mouth and kissed the bandage.

            "All better," she said, and he could hear a little girl's smile in her voice.

            She brought his hand over the rest of the way and wrapped herself in his hug.  They sat in silence a long time before he asked, "Are you okay, Jesse?"

            He felt her shake her head, the first time she hadn't lied in response to that question since the incident had occurred.

            "He's gone," Danny pointed out.  "He can't hurt you anymore."

            "Safety is an illusion," she said, repeating the same phrase she had said the other day in that same matter-of-fact cold voice.

            As she burrowed more into his chest, he asked, "Where did you hear that?"

            She took such a long time answering, he wasn't sure she would, but finally, she responded, "Why?  Maybe I came up with it."

            Despite himself, Danny smirked.  "Well, that's funny, because I recall someone you and I have in common saying that an awful lot."

            Jessica's response wasn't nearly as humoured.  "But not until shortly before she died, right?"

            Suddenly, everything in Danny became stone cold.

            "Jessica, is there something you need to tell me?"

            He heard her suck in a breath and hold it for a long time before letting it go.

*          *          *

            _I was right there, Ziners.  I could have told him.  I could have turned the lot of you in.  I could have turned you in for knowing what you know, and I could have possibly saved my father._

            For as long as Jessica lived, she would never forget the words Jeff Rin had spoken to her late that one night in the library.

            But, right now, Jessica couldn't speak.

            _I have someone in place in case your children decide to talk, someone other than who is at Hogwarts.  I do not want your children to know about this one.  It's someone in place close to the Dark Operators, someone to kill your brother-in-law and that idiot Haderson.  __Andorra__ Dumbledore as well just because the whore pisses me off.  If the children talk, they die._

            Jessica buried her face even further into Uncle Danny.  Yeah, Mom had been right.  Safety was an illusion.  But with Uncle Danny, for a short time, Jessica could pretend it was real.  She could pretend that Uncle Danny could protect her from everything…including Tom.

            "I want to protect you, Jesse," Uncle Danny said.

            She decided not to answer and feign sleep instead, but her answer drifted through her mind.       

            _And I want to you protect you, Uncle Danny._

*          *          *

Gary had decided to try to do some things in his office, but he couldn't concentrate, so he decided to go to the Forbidden Forest to collect some ingredients, despite the hour.  He was on his way out and near the stairs when he saw Stephen starting to ascend them.  Both men saw each other at the same time and stopped.

            Stephen started back up the stairs without saying anything before he halted abruptly again.  "You might as well come with me," he said quietly.

            Without responding, Gary started up the stairs with him.  They went to the Headmaster's office.

            When they entered, they found Albus sitting at his desk.  He looked up and was about to greet his visitors but hesitated when he saw who they were.

            "This is most unusual," he murmured.  "Or did you have a fight?"

            Stephen gave a brief smile before his face turned grim again.  "No.  I invited Professor Rum up here because of his involvement in what I am about to tell you."

            Albus looked at Gary to see the man's features were tight with anger.  The headmaster nodded at Stephen.  "Yes, Mr. Medley?"  
            Stephen glanced nervously at Gary before speaking.  "Early last year, when I held my first detention with Jessica Ziners, something happened.  The detention was finished, and I went to escort Miss Ziners to the door when I tripped over a shoelace and then my trunk.  My trunk fell over and opened, releasing what both Miss Ziners and I thought at first to be a dementor.  Before I could react, Miss Ziners did and released a corporeal patronus.  The dementor then turned into a Bogart, one that Miss Ziners quickly took care of as well.

            "All this of course worried me, considering that she, at the time, was a mere 11-year old girl.  The next day, instead of going to you as I probably should have, I went to Professor Rum.  He requested that I keep quiet.  I promised that I would as long as Miss Ziners kept in line.  I told him that if I thought for one second that she was an uncontrollable danger, or if I thought she was going to be a danger to the students at all, I would come to you.

            "I know that we don't yet have all the facts of what occurred, but I thought that you should know of this sooner, rather than later."

            Albus nodded thoughtfully.  "Thank you, Stephen.  Do you mind if I speak with Gary alone?"

            Stephen nodded and made for a quick exit, but Gary halted him.  "The boy might as well stay in here.  If he doesn't, he'll be an even bigger nuisance than he already is."

            Stephen turned around and started to come back with a retort, but stopped when Albus held up a hand.  The Headmaster appeared to respect Gary's request, however, to let the boy stay in the room while Albus questioned the Potions Master about his kept secrets on the Ziners kids.

            "He hasn't been the first one to notice something different about the Ziners children," Albus spoke quietly.

            Gary merely nodded.

            "Are they dangerous, Gary?"  Albus asked.

            "They could be," he replied.

            The headmaster remained silent for a long time before saying, "Are you hiding them from Lord Voldemort?"

            Gary glanced down in a brief second of being caught off guard before he looked up into his old friend's blue eyes.  Gary finally decided on a smidgeon of truth.

            "I cannot hide them from Voldemort, but I am trying to offer them a place to hide from him for awhile, a place for them to regain their strength to continue another battle during the summer with him."

            "Do they know the identity of Voldemort?"  Albus asked.

            He sighed before shrugging.  "I do not know whether they know him by another name or just by Lord Voldemort, or even if they for sure know him at all."

            "But you feel they do?"

Gary lapsed into silence for a few moments before replying with, "If they talk, Albus, somebody dies."  The Potions Master paused before asking, "Albus, you remember what it is like going undercover as an Auror?"

            Albus nodded.

            "You cannot speak for fear of your life.  You wait for the moment you can get away, to tell people what you know, but you cannot do this until you are absolutely sure you will not get killed in the process…or at least before you can speak what you know."

            Albus looked like he was starting to get Gary's point, so Gary said, "Now imagine all that, but with a partner you have an obvious affection for.  For example, if you and Andorra went undercover together, and everyone knew you were brother and sister.  They knew that to touch her, could control you.  Now, even if you can get away, you still have that extra baggage.  You would want to make absolutely certain that both of you could most certainly make it away without fear of death…or other just as painful things."

            The headmaster nodded but didn't say anything right away.  Finally, though, he said, "But they are away from that pressure when they are inside Hogwarts."

            "But are they?"  Gary asked.  "I said it before last school year.  Every child in Slytherin more than likely knows the identity of Voldemort, but it is only through Miss Ziners that we have a chance to learn it.  Even in here, Albus, she is undercover in Voldemort's world, and she has the added baggage of a little brother that she does not consider expendable.  I have a feeling that that was demonstrated yesterday."

            "How about just examining each person she knows—," Stephen started to say, but Gary stopped him

            "And what if it's someone that is in the shadows of her life, someone that no one but her, her brother, and her father saw.  Voldemort might get suspicious that she might try something without her father there.  I've been watching for this Voldemort in my circles, amongst my old hangouts.  I've been hearing things.  He might be crazy, but he's not stupid.  Jessica is too valuable a tool.  He's going to have her cloaked so thick in supervision, supervision beyond Jeffery Ziners, that I'm sure that Miss Ziners has no idea even to the extent of it.  We start asking questions Voldemort doesn't like, and he's going to start picking off those closest to Jessica."

            "We've got to include Mr. Montgomery in on this conversation," Stephen said with what Gary considered the tone of an amateur.

            "Are you kidding me?!"  Gary fairly shouted.  "If he finds out that Jessica's father associated her with the likes of Voldemort, he'll start picking off everyone Jeffery ever associated with!"

            Albus decided to intervene here.  "He has a point, Stephen, and I have another.  Voldemort is a shadow.  He may not even have a real name now.  Gary was right a year and a half ago.  It is through Miss Ziners that we have a chance to get Voldemort.  If we move too soon, we could scare Voldemort back into the shadows, to reform an identity, a persona, and then, for all we know, he could come, teach at Hogwarts and kill people right under our nose.  He could even volunteer to help us _fight_ Voldemort.

            "We have to move carefully for now.  Yes, we need to stop Voldemort.  Yes, we need to stop a killing that I suspect has already started.  But fighting this is going to take patience.  You already know that, Stephen; being an Auror is all about being patient, a trait the other side usually sorely lacks."

            "We advance too fast, the other side runs," Stephen said in a defeated tone.  "We be patient, the other side plays right into our hands."

            "And, in the meantime, we try to get Miss Ziners into a condition she can speak with us freely," Albus finished.

            Gary sighed, "Don't expect that to happen for a long time yet."

            Albus looked at him questioningly, but it was Stephen that spoke.

            "Why?"

            Gary looked up at both as if he hadn't realized that he had spoken aloud.  He didn't seem about to expound either, but in the end, he did.

            "The thing that led me to suspect of Jessica Ziners' knowledge of Voldemort was because of her knowledge of magical potions and spells.  She was about eight when I started to quiz her on what she knew."  Gary took a deep breath.  "It was all based in dark magic.  I already knew of her ability…and I knew of her father's allegiances.  It didn't take me long to put two-and-two together."  Gary's eyes had been skittering around the whole time he had been talking, but here he looked up, looking Stephen and Albus in the eyes individually.  "She's being trained.  I'm pretty sure that the aim is to make her an assassin of Lord Voldemort's."  Gary didn't continue for a long time.  He seemed to be gathering his words and courage before he revealed his thoughts.  "With what's happened now with her father…in her mind, Pandora's Box has been opened.  She's probably convinced Voldemort has succeeded.

            "Right now, gentlemen, before we can get Miss Ziners into a position to speak to us, we must get Miss Ziners back.  I would wager that she is the closest to the dark side as she's ever been.  If Miss Ziners becomes convinced Voldemort has succeeded, she's gone.

            "It's key that we do not lose this one, gentlemen, as I've feared we've already lost others.  Miss Ziners is NOT the power that will stop Voldemort, but she is the one who will make sure we will hold the last card in this fight."

*          *          *

"Malcolm," Marcus greeted as he started down the steps to the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts.  It was early afternoon.

            "Marcus, I'm glad you're here.  Hope you're not in a hurry," Malcolm said as he started up the Entrance Hall steps.

            Marcus gave a faint smile at his assuming attitude and turned to follow his neighbour, shaking his head.  "No.  No hurry to get back that is."

            Malcolm merely nodded.

            He took Marcus to the Hospital Ward.  Daniel Montgomery was just exiting, and Gary Rum, Andorra and Albus Dumbledore were outside talking.

            "Glad to see you three are here as well," Malcolm said.  He also nodded at Daniel, "You also, though I suspected as much you would be here.

            "I just got back from speaking with the rest of the school governors."

            This statement received everyone's undivided attention.

            "They agreed to allow both Jessica and Casey Ziners back into school upon a number of conditions."

             "What are they?"  Daniel asked.

            Malcolm looked at the older man.  "Before I say them, you must understand that I argued a better part of the last thirty-six hours, after only six hours of sleep total in the past two nights."

            Daniel nodded.

            "First of all, she cannot stay in the Slytherin house until after the hearing in the United States.  After that, the school governors will re-examine that decision, as well as the other restrictions they are placing on the children."  When no one said anything, Malcolm continued.  "Jessica will be allowed to stay in the school if a suitable place is found for her to sleep and do her homework.  The governors would prefer if its entrances and exits were guarded at night.

            "They also would like for Jessica to see someone on a regular basis, preferably a Healer with some training in psychology.  This person is to speak an hour or so with her to assess her mental state.  If she seems dangerous, she is to be removed from the school immediately until the school governors can meet and reassess the situation.

            "Jessica will be allowed to remain in Quidditch as long as a school governor is able to come to supervise the game.  The school governor will also have the right to remove Jessica instantly if she is seeming to become dangerous…dangerous outside the usual game that is.

            "The last restriction is of course the one that will definitely require the approval of the entire teaching staff of Hogwarts, and the Headmaster as well."  Malcolm nodded towards Albus at that last comment.  "Jessica and Casey cannot be in possession of their wands at all while on school premises."

            Andorra's voice rose above and out powered Daniel's, "That last one is the same that the Wizemgot in America is also requiring.  We will be in possession of their wands."

            That hold off served to make Daniel think for a moment and see the logic of the requirements.  The older man glanced down before nodding silently.

            "We – as in the school governors – are suggesting that Jessica's and Casey's practicals are held off until after the results of the trial.  The professors must be willing at some point before the next school year to test the children on their practicals.  After they have had some time to practice of course," Malcolm added with a look to Daniel.

            "There is one issue then I am assuming," Marcus said.  "Parents aren't going to be too keen on keeping their kids in school with Jessica."

            Malcolm nodded.  "That's where you and I come in."

            Marcus raised an eyebrow at him.  Malcolm nodded with a casual shrug.  "What the hell.  We're already running full speed against the tide."

            Marcus chuckled before nodding at Albus.  "What do you think, Professor?"  
            Albus glanced at Gary, giving Marcus pause.  Since when had Albus Dumbledore looked to Gary Rum?

            Albus looked back at Malcolm and Marcus.  "I think it would be safer for the children if they stayed in Hogwarts.  I will speak with the professors and give you an answer by this evening."

            Having not caught on to her brother's odd behaviour, Andorra said, "Of course it will be safer, not to mention easier on me.  Ignatius Malfoy will think twice before disturbing the kids when they're under Albus' protection.  Not that I couldn't handle Malfoy, but I have much more important things to focus my energy on other than _not_ killing Malfoy."

            Everyone but Gary and Daniel smiled at that.

            Malcolm turned to Marcus.  "I suppose you and I better go recruit others."

            "To do what?"  Andorra asked.

            Malcolm answered her.  "We need to put confidence in the people that Ziners isn't dangerous, so we need people to stand up for her.  If Marcus and I both come out in defence of Ziners by—"

            "Very loudly," Marcus interjected.

            Malcolm nodded.  "By very loudly keeping our kids in school, hopefully others will follow."

            "How well do you suspect that to work?"  Andorra asked.

            "I've already caused two parents to change their mind," Malcolm said matter-of-factly.

            His remark was met with some smiles, but it was met with a question by Daniel.  "What makes you think Jessica is not a danger?"

            Malcolm lapsed into a silent surprise for a minute before answering.  "Marcus knows her better than I do."  He turned to the shorter man next to him.  "Marcus, is Jessica Ziners dangerous to the other students?"

            Marcus didn't hesitate to shake his head.

            "Okay."  Malcolm turned back to Daniel.  "Sometimes, you just have to trust your friends."

            The two took off.

*          *          *

"Marcus Potter!"**__**

            Malcolm and Marcus had just arrived at his office when they heard the voice ring through the front office area of the Aurors.  The two chuckled as the area went completely silent.  They entered the outer office area again to find Virginia Longbottom starting to descend on a wide-eyed Brittany.

            "Gina!"  Marcus called through the office, as if in greeting, but in reality, he was saving his wife from the woman "fondly" dubbed as the 'Barracuda.'

            Gina looked towards him and immediately started descending on him.  The only thing that kept Marcus from cowering was the fact that Marcus was use to her overbearing ways.  She was one of thee very best Unspeakables in the world, her genius probably only matched by Gary Rum.  And, like Gary Rum, she could always switch roles from Unspeakable to Auror.  She didn't appear the Auror type, but Marcus was witness to the fact that it was a very dangerous position to be in when she was mad at you.

            "Marcus Potter, I demand to speak with you this instance!"

            Marcus nodded and led her to his office.  Malcolm followed her in.  Though not as use to her as Marcus was, there was not a lot in this world that scared or intimidated Malcolm.  Fear was a weakness in Malcolm's opinion, and so he very rarely showed it.  

            When the door shut, Gina spoke.  "What is going on at Hogwarts?  Everything is pure rumour as far as I'm concerned until it comes out of the mouth of someone I trust.  Malfoy is spouting off some nonsense of harbouring fugitives at Hogwarts!  And what happened to Jeffery Ziners, not to mention Secretary Ziners?!"  
            Marcus had sat at his desk while he waited through her rant.  He was leaning back with his hands behind his head when she finished.

            "You better sit down, Gina," Marcus said.

            Gina went to make another comment but stopped at the look on Marcus' face.  She sat…well, it could only truly be qualified as a perch on the very edge of the chair.

            "To make a long story short, Jonathon Ziners, as well as his two assistants, Grens and Lemore, have been arrested for treason, among other things.  They found out all three were giving information to Lord Voldemort, who apparently has been wreaking some havoc over in America as well.  

"In a separate incident, Jeffery Ziners was killed by his daughter, Jessica.  Currently, both she and her brother, Casey, are at Hogwarts.  Apparently, Jeffery was trying to kill Casey by using the Cruciatus Curse.  We're not sure if Casey is going to live, and, if he is, he will most likely be insane when he wakes up.

            "Jessica, it seems upon investigation, had planned to kill her father prior to the actual incident of murdering him."

            "Do _you_ think she premeditated it?"  Gina asked.

            Marcus nodded.  "But I think she had a reason.  I think Jeffery was abusing the children, and I don't think Jessica saw any other way out."

            "What about telling their uncle?"

            Marcus shrugged.  "I don't know why they didn't.  That's something we're going to have to ask Jessica, but I believe that there was probably a very good reason."

            "I'm assuming that they're going to be out of Hogwarts until the hearing," Gina said.

            Marcus shook his head before he nodded towards Malcolm.  "He managed to convince the governors to let her stay in.  There are restrictions of course."

            "What are they?"  
            "She can't stay in Slytherin House.  She'll be placed in a room, and it will be guarded at night.  She has to speak with someone once a week so her mental status can be assessed.  If they see her to be a danger, there will be immediate removal.  She can stay in Quidditch as long as a governor can supervise the games.  Again, if she seems to be a danger to the other students, there will be immediate removal.  In addition, both her's and Casey Ziners' wands will be confiscated.  I believe that the American Department of Magic has already seen to that.

            "After the hearing in the States, if she is not placed in prison, the governors will meet and reassess Jessica's remaining in the school, as well as the restrictions she is under.

            "This is all, of course, waiting upon approval from Albus Dumbledore and the rest of the teaching staff at Hogwarts."

            "Do you think that is enough?"

            Marcus merely nodded.

            Gina looked at Malcolm, who nodded as well.  Gina turned back to Marcus.  "What about pressure from the parents?"

            "We expect a lot of it," Marcus responded, sounding amused at his own answer.  "That's pretty much all we've heard on the way here."

            "What's your plan to combat the parents?  I imagine the attendance to Hogwarts will go down dramatically."

            "Malcolm and I are both going to very loudly support the governors' decision.  We're going to keep our children in school and will urge other…let's say, 'important and influential' parents to do so as well."  And though Marcus didn't say it, Gina saw the question.

            "Is she dangerous to the other students?"  She asked, looking Marcus directly in the eyes.

            "Not much more than her mother," he responded.

            Gina gave an unusual pause and glanced down.  She spoke quietly, "I asked Frank if he thought if there was any truth to Jessica Ziners murdering her father."

            "What did he say?"  Marcus asked when she didn't continue.

            She looked back up at Marcus with a small smile.  When she answered, her voice was strong again.  "He asked me if I was listening to Minister Malfoy spouting off his lies again."

            Marcus grinned softly.

            "Who have you successfully urged so far?"  Gina asked.

            "Malcolm's kept two kids in school so far, but no one to create a trend as of yet."

            "Well, Marcus," Gina said as she stood up again, causing Marcus to do so as well.  "You may add one to _your_ list, and this one is someone who may cause a trend."

            "We can count on you, Gina?"  Malcolm asked, speaking for the first time.

            Gina gave him an evil grin.  "Oh, yes.  Truthfully," she smiled at both men, "I'm game for anything that gets Malfoy in an uproar."

            They chuckled.

*          *          *

            Jessica knew she was being frowned at from three different directions.  Brittany Potter, who had come to check on her after supper at her household, was eyeing her through the door while she and Professor McGonagall spoke in the hallway.  Molly Weasley, who rarely left it seemed to Jessica, was looking at her rather than her knitting.  And Uncle Danny, who had rarely spoken to her since that incident last night, was watching her from his seat next to her bed.  But Jessica was looking at none of them.  She was watching her little brother struggle through another breath.  She was still in his bed.  Madam Pomfrey had finally given up trying to move her to a separate bed and magically expanded the bed the siblings were lying on.

            Jessica slid down and grabbed her brother in a gentle hug, knowing he would draw upon her power to heal.  

            _Casey_, she tried again in her head.  No response.  _Case, I don't know if you can hear me or not, if you are just too weak to respond, so I'm just going to talk.  I woke up after Dad knocked me out.  I did it, Case, but I don't feel nearly as good about it as I thought I would.  You know what I am, Case, I am what Tom Riddle…_, well, she might as get use to it she thought and altered with, _Lord Voldemort.  I am what Lord Voldemort wants me to be.  He said it was only a matter of time, right?_

            Jessica knew how her brother would respond.  He would deny that Voldemort was right.  That she killed to save him, not for power, but Casey would be wrong.  Yes, a part of her wanted to save Casey, but when she had originally thought up this plan, it had been not because of one day she might save Casey's life.  She had had other reasons for planning Father's murder.  One was definitely revenge for Mother.  Another was because he needed to be stopped.  But it was the last that she only just now realized had played right into what Tom had been working towards all along.  She had wanted to show Tom she wasn't some measly little kid.  She could take care of herself; she could take care of Casey; but most of all, she could take care of Father and Tom.  She could play with them on their field.  She thought it was to beat Tom, but by the mere act of murder, she had only done something Tom himself would have done.  Not only had she gotten rid of something that was holding her down, she had done it by means that Tom adored.

            Though it probably would have been better had it been death by torture rather than death by Avada Kedavra.

            "How is Miss Ziners?"

            The voice yanked Jessica out of her revere so fast that she nearly fell out of the bed.  It was Ignatius Malfoy.

            He would be here, of course, as Tom's man on the inside, probably here to send a warning.

            "She'll live," came Mrs. Potter's terse response.

            His response was a question dripping with sarcasm.  "Do I have your noble permission to speak with her?"  

            "Well," but as Brittany started to respond, Jessica gave an overdramatically loud sigh, catching everyone's attention.  Might as well get this over with, she thought, because the longer he waited, the more impatient he would become and the more angrier he would be when he would finally succeeded in speaking with her alone, something Jessica had little doubt he would succeed in doing.

            "He can speak with me," Jessica said as she started to get into a sitting position on the bed.

            Everyone looked as though she had sprouted a second head, even Malfoy.

            She looked at them all evenly.

            Malfoy reacted first as he gave Brittany a self-satisfied grin before sauntering the rest of the way into the Hospital Ward.  Helga Breamer, the Healer on duty, bristled.

            "I will only allow this visit as long as Jessica does not become upset."

            "I won't, Mrs. Breamer," Jessica said on another sigh.  Malfoy gave her a sudden suspicious look.  Her poker face never once broke.  Her eyes however did flicker to Molly as the woman stood up.  The look she was giving her Goddaughter was one that asked if she needed help.  Jessica had no doubt Molly would take Ignatius Malfoy to the ground if Jessica asked her to.  But right now that probably wasn't the hottest idea.  Jessica gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head, and Molly backed down.

            Ignatius looked at Danny as the man stood up.  Jessica knew while his size sometimes embarrassed him, Danny did not hesitate to use it to scare the enemy, and, to him right now, Malfoy was the enemy.

            Ignatius finally looked at Jessica, but he still glanced nervously at her uncle.  Jessica bit back a smile.  She knew that while they bashed Uncle Danny at their Death Eater meetings, calling him names, 'oaf' and 'stupid' being two, that they still very much feared him when confronted with him and his size.

            "Can I speak with you alone, Jessica?"  Ignatius asked.

            Oh, like that wasn't obvious, Jessica thought, but she nodded.  "You can and you may," she said.  Jessica waited for Danny's response without looking at him, but she was finally forced with facing him when all that ensued was silence.  He was giving her that look – that one that told her that he knew that the face value he saw in the room was a bunch of bologna.  There was something else going on here, she could tell he knew.  

Jessica looked away from him.  "It's alright, Uncle Danny.  I'll be fine."  Jessica glanced across the room at Molly and nodded.  "I will be."

            Molly gave her a smile before she started towards Uncle Danny.  "Come on," she said with a nod towards the door.  She never touched him but was close enough to drag, so Uncle Danny decided that he would obey his niece on this one.  He grabbed her shoulder and gave it a tender squeeze before leaving with Molly and Mrs. Breamer.

            Once the door shut, Ignatius started in a low voice.

            "Okay, what's up your sleeve?"

            She gave him an even look.  "I suppose you have a message from…" might as well remind him her position with Riddle, "my Godfather."  

            "He doesn't appreciate what you did," Ignatius bit out viciously.  "He said you might as well take residence next to Dumbledore as the second he has his hands on you, you're dead."  

            That would be hard, she mused, considering he can't kill me.  She knew that he would have someone else do it, but just the same, the sentence amused her.

            But the more important thing right now was how to fix the current situation.  She hadn't really thought about Tom's reaction.  She _had_ thought he was going to be mad, but she hadn't really considered the possibility he was going to do something about it.  Well, that was stupid of her.  It just went to show exactly how wrong this plan had been.

            But what to do?  _Case, I wish you were here right now.  You were always good with these last minute things._

            Suddenly, a memory flashed through Jessica's head.  It was of last summer.  Tom had just killed a man who had been ratting on him to Marcus Potter.  Over drinks, Dad had laughed heartily when Tom said, "As they say, dead men tell no tales."

            And being dead, Dad would tell no one the tale, the true tale.

            Inspiration.

            "Why is he mad at me?"  Jessica asked, bewildered.  "I was doing him a favour."

            "A favour?"  Ignatius had definitely been not expecting that one.

            "Yes.  Dad was," couldn't directly implicate Uncle Danny in her lie, "…leaving notes at the Department, ratting everyone out.  When I threatened to tell Tom, Father said he would shut me up.  He couldn't kill me, so I suppose that Casey was the better choice in his eyes," had to downplay her affection for Casey, "…He was so hysterical that I was worried he would start on me next.  I had to do something."

            Instead of the disbelieving look she had been expecting, Malfoy muttered an explicative.  "That's how they got caught," he growled.

            "Who?"  Jessica asked in utter surprise.

            "Your Uncle John, as well as Grens and Lemore.  That's why they've been so secretive at the Department.  John and the others were arrested for treason.  All three have talked and are currently waiting in an undisclosed location for their trial.  Luckily, Tom wiped his name out of their memory the last time he saw them.  He was worried because Montgomery seemed a little odd around them."

            "Well, that's good he did that," Jessica said, her voice sounding odd even to her ears.  Malfoy glanced at her.

            "Oh, I'm sorry.  You probably haven't heard."

            All Jessica could do was stare at Ignatius.

            Malfoy glanced at Casey.  "Is he going to live?"  
            Jessica took a minute to answer that, and when she did, she had to reign herself in and school her features not to show the anger at the casual, almost dismissive way Malfoy asked that.  "Don't know yet," she responded.

            Malfoy just nodded.  "I will go inform the Da—," Ignatius caught himself just in time and corrected, "Tom of these new developments.  Good work," he said before leaving.

            Jessica had to pull her jaw up when the others re-entered the room.  "Everything all right, Jess?"  Uncle Danny asked.

            It took her a minute to give a half nod to Danny.  She lay back down and held Casey again.

*          *          *

            "Baker, Brier, Meadows, Stiller, Anderson, and Yang."

            "Are you lining them up and pegging them off or something?"  Stephen asked with a smirk.  It was the next morning, and Marcus, Malcolm, and Stephen were standing outside the Hospital Ward.

            Marcus laughed, though Malcolm didn't really look that amused.

            "It's tough business," Marcus said when a silence ensued.  "Trying to talk parents into letting their children re-enter a school with someone who will be put on trial for murder in a few months."

            Stephen gave him a grim look.  "Yes, I imagine it is.  I shouldn't have made a joke."  Stephen braved a look back at Malcolm.  "Are they going to speak with other parents?"

            "Yang, Brier, and Baker were up for talking with other parents.  Meadows though said not to try Richards from Accounting at the Ministry.  She said he would definitely not be up to letting his kid go to school with Ziners.  He hated the father and thought he was a murderer."

            "And now he thinks it runs in the family," Marcus added.  When he got a curious look from Malcolm, he said, "Tims, one of the day guards from the Ministry, told me.  Said that Richards is working the parents against you and me.  Apparently he's going around saying that we're setting Hogwarts up for another murder in the building."

            Malcolm just shook his head.

            "What's going on out here?  A party?"  Riley Haderson asked, coming from down the hallway.  He was giving them a small smile, though his mood, everyone could see, was a bit darker than the Auror usually wore.  He appeared rumpled and tired.  Investigating Jessica was appearing to take a toll on the man.

            The three shook their heads.  "No," Marcus said.  "Just a little talking.  How's it going in America?"

            "Fantastic," Riley answered with way too much enthusiasm.

            The other three gave a chuckle.

            Riley nodded towards the door.  "Came to visit the kids.  How are things going?"

            "Jessica seems to be alright," Stephen answered.

            "Case?"  Riley asked.

            The three men shook their heads bleakly.

            "Are you four about to change your addresses to the hallway outside the Hospital Ward, or will you move sometime in the very near future?"  Came an even, dry voice.  It was Gary Rum.  He was with Albus Dumbledore, who smiled at his friend.

            "We all seem to be here for a visit with the children," Riley said.

            "Actually," Stephen said, "I peeked in on them a bit ago, then I ran into these guys on the way out."

            The other professors nodded.

            "Who took over for Mrs. Breamer?"  Albus asked.

            "Rohan," Stephen replied.  "At about three this morning."

            Albus nodded before turning to Marcus and Malcolm, but Malcolm spoke first.  "I got your owl last night.  I'm glad that all the professors agreed to the governors' decision."

            Albus merely nodded again before asking, "How are things at the Ministry?"

            "Crazy," Marcus replied quietly.  "But that's to be expected.  Malcolm and I, as well as Gina Longbottom, are lining up more parents each day behind the school governors' decision."

            "Good, good," Albus said, but any further response was cut off when Madam Pomfrey opened the door from the Hospital Ward.  The look on her face spoke volumes.

            "You better come," she said breathlessly.  "It's Casey."

To be continued…


	8. A Whole New Game

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrexcharter.net)

**Chapter ****8: A Whole New Game**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. I'm not making a red cent (or a cent of any other color). You know the drill.

I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. It was finals then I had to move back home.

Another Note: I had this chapter ready two Saturdays ago. I even had this beginning notes area written. Then I went home to send it off to betas, but I didn't make it as far as the computer. My uncle passed away that Saturday. For that reason, I'm dedicating this chapter to my uncle Brad. He's actually a vital part to this story as he is the reason I ever visited Texas, and he's the reason I ever fell in love with that state. On a different note, he is the only one of my aunts and uncles that ever treated my sisters, brothers, and I like we ever mattered to anyone, and he's also the one that inspired me to be the kind of aunt I am to my nieces and nephews. I miss you and love you, Uncle Brad!

If anyone wants the web address to my master character list, email me privately. (Or you can look my screenname (same as here) at yahoo groups. It's my personal website listed on my yahoo groups profile.)

No new characters in this chapter. Isn't that amazing?

I'm going to start including quotes at the beginning of each chapter, so don't let that confuse you. LOL

Now, I'll shut up and let you get on with the chapter you all have waited so patiently for…

_"__The consummate truth of life is that we alter our destiny by altering our thoughts. The mind is our most crucial resource, our crowning asset, our ultimate arena of battle."_

_ Dennis Deaton_

"All of it?"

"All of it?"

"Too many middle names," was the raspy response.

Rohan chuckled. "Okay, just your favorite middle name then."

"Casey Jackson Ziners."

Marcus couldn't believe it. Rohan was speaking to Casey Ziners, who lie flat on his back in bed, his eyes open.

"And your birth date?" Rohan asked.

"August 6, 1961."

Marcus walked in further so he could look at Jessica, who still lay next to her brother in the same bed. She was lying on her back, her arm encircled with her brother's. She gave her uncle an exhausted smile.

Daniel, who was sitting next to his nephew, a huge smile on his face, returned her look. When Casey gave him a smile as well, Daniel asked, "How you feeling?"

"Like sh…crap," Casey smiled.

Danny chuckled. Danny then looked over at his niece. He reached out a hand, and she grasped it with the hand Casey wasn't currently holding. "How you doing, Jessica?"  
"Happy," she whispered, "but tired."

"Get some sleep," Casey told her. "I'll run interference for awhile."

Jessica smirked at her brother. "I think I'll stay up for a bit. We weren't sure about you for awhile."

Instead of responding to his sister, Casey's eyes surveyed the people that had entered the room.

"Hi, Mr. Potter, Professors, Riley," his eyes met Malcolm's, but he didn't say anything as he glanced at his sister.

"Mr. Black," Jessica answered his silent question.

Casey slowly turned his head back and nodded at Malcolm. "Hi, Mr. Black."

"This is one unusual child," Rohan said with a chuckle. "Just lived through something that kills stronger wizards, and he greets everyone in the room individually."

Casey gave him a grin.

Rohan smiled but turned and did his own glance over the people in the room. "Okay, we've let you see him with your own eyes, but I'm going to have to ask for you to leave. Both these children need their rest."

The adults nodded and started dispersing one-by-one. Marcus and Riley were the last to leave. Marcus was going to say something to the children but stopped when he noticed Jessica turn her head abruptly. He barely got a glimpse of a pained face before she hid it with a turn to her brother.

Marcus looked to his right to see what had caused her to get such a pained look and was surprised to find Riley Haderson standing there, a confused look on his face.

"What are you doing, John?" Marcus asked as he and Malcolm entered the administrative area of the Ministry. Malcolm and Marcus had been on their way to Amelia to tell her the good news about Casey.

"Amusing myself," the Head of the Unspeakables said, a smirk on his face as he kept his eyes still on the center area of Administration.

Marcus and Malcolm turned their heads curiously to that area to find it devoid of people – because they were forming a circle around the two remaining people in the center: Ignatius Malfoy and Gina Longbottom. Ignatius looked a bit disheveled while Gina was still her prim and proper self, with a prim and proper smirk on her face as she waited for Ignatius to reply.

"Mrs. Longbottom, if we could just continue this in my office," he tried tiredly.

"I think this is a conversation almost everyone here has a right to participate in," she replied haughtily. "Many of those here have children in Hogwarts."

Gina waited until Ignatius started to reply before she continued, her wait being solely for the purposes of interrupting him.

"Mrs. Long—"

"We, the parents and workers at the Ministry, should have a right to talk with _our Minister_," she spat the words as if they were a mockery in her opinion, "when we think he should throw the support of the Ministry behind the school governors' decisions."

"Mrs. Longbottom—"

"Personally, Malfoy," Gina said as she approached him. Malfoy looked as though he struggled not to back down, "I think you're just afraid that little Lucius couldn't take Jessica on in a duel."

Malfoy began a scathing response, but strangely, when his eyes caught something over Gina shoulders, he bit his tongue. Marcus looked to about where in the crowd Ignatius had looked and was surprised to see Tom Riddle there. Tom's eyes caught Marcus', and he gave Marcus a half smirk as he nodded towards the fight. Apparently, Gina was amusing him too.

Ignatius straightened and wiped imaginary dust off his robe. "If you'll excuse me, _Ms._ Longbottom," no one missed the change of the prefix or the fact that it was meant to make a mockery of her widowhood, "I must get back to my work for the Ministry. I am still the Minister of Magic, whether you want me to be or not."

As Ignatius started back towards his office, Gina straightened her back and said with an arrogant, proud voice, "Or not."

Ignatius turned to her with a questioning look.

"I just wanted to make sure that was clear. I do _not_ want you to be the Minister of Magic," she said with a smirk before turning to the crowd, dignity in her stance. She walked away as if she did not even notice that they were there to watch her and Ignatius have it out.

"How does she do that?" John asked to no one in particular. "How does she insult possibly the most influential man in the Ministry and walk away as though he wouldn't dare touch a hair on her head."

Marcus chuckled. "I don't know, John, but I can tell you that I firmly believe that the single mother of seven boys can do whatever the heck she wants, and I won't stop her."

John and Malcolm both laughed at that one.

They allowed Jessica out of the bed that afternoon, but she didn't stray far from the Hospital Ward, and she never left when that meant leaving Casey in the room with Rohan Figg, no matter who else was in there. She figured that Figg had noticed, but he kept it to himself.

Finally, the night fell, and she and Casey were alone in the Ward. Madam Pomfrey was in the office next door, but that didn't matter to the siblings. Jessica still slept in the same bed as Casey as he still needed the strength she had to offer him.

_So, what happened?_

Jessica had been waiting for precisely this moment to tell him, and he knew that.

_I did it, Case. I killed him._

_ But you were knocked out._

_ I recovered_, she said on a sigh. _Then I did it. I actually killed him._

She felt her little brother's head move towards her, but she didn't return his look.

_I sense guilt here, Jesse._

She didn't respond.

_Jess, we had no choice._

Still, she gave no response, and Casey seemed to lapse into silence. It lasted only five minutes.

_If you hadn't killed him, I would have died. You saved my life, no matter any other reason you might have had._

_Tom once save Mom_, Jessica replied quietly. _From the Basilisk, remember? We heard them talking about it. But it wasn't because Tom had good reasons. He needed her to live._

Casey dropped the subject for now and latched onto the topic of their mother and Tom's need of her. _That's something else, Jess. Why did he need her to live? We haven't looked at this before. The cloak wasn't in place then. He didn't need her to learn to get past that._

_ He thought she would still join his side,_ Jessica responded, with a sideways look to her brother. Casey was staring up at the ceiling.

_Tom…he's not stupid, Jess. He knew that she wouldn't join his side as much as we won't. There is something else there, something we don't understand yet. Remember what we overheard at Christmas? Mom _submitted_ to Dad. What was that about? And, is it something we need to worry about?_

_ Why should we worry about it?_

_ Because of you, Jess. Tom and Dad held on to Mom for something, something that was worth the pain of having to deal with a woman who wouldn't join them. Is he holding onto you for the same reason?_

Jessica shook her head at her brother, but she knew that thought would fester in her brain for a long time, something that she imagined would likewise happen to Casey. But instead of addressing Casey's question, she replied, _Whatever it is, he's succeeded._

_ Jessica, he didn't succeed. You are not like him._

When his sister didn't respond, Casey looked at her. She was looking up at the ceiling. He decided to leave her alone for now. He was too tired to fight.

"What is it you Americans say? 'Another day, another dollar'?"

Rohan nearly smiled at the cold glare he received from Jessica. Her brother just merely watched the exchange, his face impassive. He was sitting up on the bed but leaning heavily against the pillows that helped prop up his back. Jessica was sitting up on her own.

"Is she usually this cheery in the morning?" Rohan asked, trying to break into the brother's mind.

"If she likes you, she's nice," he replied quietly.

Jessica's face broke into a wicked smirk.

They were a regular old comedy duo, Rohan thought with a silent chuckle.

"How are you guys this morning?" Daniel Montgomery asked as he entered the Ward.

"Fine," Casey replied before asking, "How's life at the Department?"

Suddenly, Jessica looked sharply at her brother, but he didn't seem to notice it right away. However, after a few seconds, he did look at his sister. He gave a questioning glance before looking back to his uncle. What was that about, Rohan wondered.

Daniel didn't seem confused by their actions as he said, "I've got some bad news for you guys."

He gave Jessica a closer look then, "That is, unless you already know, Jess?"  
Jessica looked down. "I heard," she mumbled.

Daniel threw a nervous look to Rohan.

"Do you want me to leave?" Rohan asked politely.

Daniel looked about to say no then decided against it. "Yeah, could you give us a few minutes?"  
Rohan nodded and left.

Once Rohan was out of the Ward, the door shut, Daniel took a chair next to Casey's bed.

"Where did you hear, Jess?" He asked.

She shrugged. "It's been so hectic that I don't remember," she mumbled again.

Daniel seemed okay with the answer. He looked at Casey. "From the looks you exchanged, I'm guessing she told you in your head?"

"Yeah," Casey said. "They were arrested for treason?"  
Daniel nodded. "It must be a shocker for both of you."

Casey nodded quickly. Jessica was a bit slower.

"How did you guys figure it out?" Jessica asked with a sudden look up of her head.

"A series of events led us to believe there was a leak, then one event helped us to narrow it down to four people. I had Riley follow it up."

The kids nodded.

"When's the trial?" Casey enquired.

Daniel took a deep breath and looked down. "It was last night. That's why I had to leave early."

"They were found guilty, right?" This was from Jessica.

Daniel nodded. "Yes. Life imprisonment in Azkaban."

"How's Maria?" Daniel looked up at Jessica and was amused to see the surprise on Jessica's face that she had even asked that question. It was no secret that the cousins didn't get along.

"She's going through a real hard time. Right now, I'm very low on her list of people that she likes. I don't want to drag you kids into it, but it just might be a good idea to steer clear of her when school gets back in session."

They nodded. The three lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Jessica asked in a whisper, "And my trial? When is that scheduled to start?"

This caused Daniel to look up from the ground. His eyes went to Jessica's and neither looked away for a long time. Finally though, Daniel responded.

"They want to wait to try you until we have a new Secretary and the Secretary has had some time to adjust to the new position. They also want to wait until you've completed this school year."

Jessica nodded before glancing back at her feet.

"They're going to charge you with premeditated murder, Jess." When everyone remained silent for a long time, Jessica looked back to see her uncle giving her a hard look. She knew what he was thinking. If she would just deny it…

She nodded. "Yes, I premeditated it so I suspected that that was what they were going to charge me with."

And she saw the question then, the one burning in his brain. She wanted to go over and hug him. She wanted to cry and tell him everything. She wanted to give in. She wanted his protection. She wanted to be ignorant of what this world was about. She wanted to be ignorant of everything, but the joys of what being a child was suppose to be about.

But she knew that this play was far from over. As she glanced at the still healing cuts on her brother's arms, she knew that this play had only just begun.

She wanted to tell Uncle Danny that they couldn't tell him about the abuse because of Dad's warning five years ago. She wanted to tell him that they couldn't tell him about Tom because if they did, he would die. If not Uncle Danny, then Riley or Andorra or both. And Jessica didn't want to be the cause of any more deaths, or any more almost deaths. This was one war she had to fight alone.

And not even Casey could understand that.

"Do you want to go to Hogwarts and visit your friends?"

Severus looked away from his desk to see his father in his room. The 12-year old had been working on his Potions assignment.

He was sorely tempted to say yes. He wanted to see if they were all right. But…

Severus shook his head. "No, thank you. Do you know how they are doing?"

Michael almost looked disappointed. "They're doing great. Casey's going to be alright. He woke up yesterday morning."

Severus' grin nearly broke his face. "That's excellent."

Michael nodded with a smile of his own.

"Look, Severus," he said with a sigh, "Did you and Jessica have a falling out?"

Severus looked back to his homework. "Sort of."

"I asked Marcus Potter if James knew anything. James said that something happened with the Quidditch try-outs." Michael held up his hands when Severus made to interrupt. "I'm not going to ask what happened at the try-outs. I just wanted to say that Jessica is going to need a friend desperately during the rest of the school year. The school governors are going to allow both Jessica and Casey to attend, but under a number of restrictions, not the least of which is going to be that she can't stay in the Slytherin House, plus both she and Casey aren't going to be allowed to have a wand until after their trial, which is not going to be until mid-June at the absolute earliest. She has all this on top of what actually happened."

Severus nodded. "Look, I know that she's going to need a friend, but…"

Michael sighed. "Okay, I understand. I thought I would try to plead her case. But, a boy needs to do what a boy needs to do."

"I'm not that good at making friends, Dad," Severus pleaded, knowing that his father was now trying to guilt him into it. "Jessica was my first friend, yes, and the only one that I made friends with in First Year, but that's changed now. I've got Rabastan and Lucius."

Michael looked thoughtful for a moment. "Just one question. Why can't you be friends with Rabastan, Lucius, and Jessica at the same time?"  
Severus fairly laughed. "Let me see. Reason number one is that Lucius and Jessica hate each other."

The corner of Michael's mouth went up in a smirk but the man quickly hid it. "And reason number two?" He asked in a deep voice.

"I'm still mad at Jessica!"  
Again, Michael gave a thoughtful pause before observing, "I can't help but notice that is reason number two rather than reason number one. Might some of that anger have worn off by now?"

Severus growled and turned back to his homework, his 12-year old mind not liking that his father had observed something that the back of Severus' brain said was probably true.

"Severus," Michael said with a soft sigh. "Forgiveness is part of being friends. Also, it's possible being friends with two different people that don't like each other. If both of them like you enough, they'll accept your other friendships and stick around."

When Severus didn't respond, Michael grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Just remember, Severus. Jessica was your first friend. You were her first friend too."

"It's perfect," Ignatius told his wife as he prepared to leave for work. "She is one of us now, I know she is."

"But Jeffery? A spy?"  
"Not a spy," Ignatius said with a knowing glare at his wife. Like most females in their circle, she had had a fling with Jeffery. _Just another good reason the rotten scoundrel's gone_, Ignatius thought to himself. It wasn't that he had any real affection for his wife. But she was _his_ and not Jeffery's. "Just a weasel. Who turned his own brother in," Ignatius added with a significant look at his wife, silently wanting her to know that he probably wouldn't have hesitated to turn others in.

"And what's your perfect plan?" Alodie asked, almost nervously now. She had caught onto his knowing look, Ignatius thought with a smile.

"Jessica Ziners will be allowed to be closer to Dumbledore than ever before, and then those at the Department of Magic. They'll be treating her like royalty, because 'poor Jessica' was driven to murdering her father because he 'abused them'. The last thing those cronies – including that Rum – would ever expect of her now is the fact she's secretly working for us." Ignatius smiled, pleased with himself.

"But what about Lucius?" Alodie asked.

"What about him?" Ignatius asked irritably. "He can take care of himself."

"Don't you remember what happened to him last summer? What that wretched girl put him through?"

Ignatius gave her a mild glare. "If Lucius cannot handle those sorts of things, he might as well go join Dumbledore and Potter's side right now. He would not last one minute in the Dark Lord's inner circle."

Alodie gave him an angry look, but he never saw it as he left.

"Did you read this? Did you read this?" Brittany asked, bursting into Marcus' office at 8:00 in the morning.

Marcus nearly dropped his tea. "Britt, we just arrived! How did you read the newspaper already?"

She ignored him and stood by him so he could look over his shoulder as she read, "Minister Malfoy announced this morning that while he still worries about the school governors' decision, he will be allowing his son, Lucius, age 12, to return to Hogwarts in a few days. 'Not only do the school governors but many other parents believe that Miss Ziners will not be a danger to the school. I trust that Albus Dumbledore would have put a stop to this if he did not believe so as well. Considering all that, I decided that Lucius, who happens to like Hogwarts very much, can return to school. I only hope that the school governors and Albus Dumbledore are not wrong.'"

When Marcus didn't say anything, Brittany looked up at him over her shoulder. He had an intense look on his face.

"What's wrong, Marcus? I thought that you would be happy that Malfoy's finally given up."

Her husband sighed. "I am in a way. I'm now just nervous as to what's up Ignatius' sleeve."

Brittany sat down in visitor's chair in Marcus' office and crossed her legs. "He could have gotten attacked with conscience."

"Or he could have gotten attacked by Gina Longbottom," Marcus suggested after a sip of tea.

Brittany tried to look disapproving but started to snicker. "Marcus, that woman, though scary, is quite dignified. I don't think she would have stooped to attacking Minister Malfoy."

Marcus smirked at his wife as he sat down. "I honestly wouldn't put it past her, but I don't think she did this time. She was probably the straw that broke the camel's back."

Suddenly, Malcolm walked into Marcus' office as though he owned the place. Amelia was following in his tracks. "Malfoy's backing down," Malcolm said.

Marcus nodded as he took another calm sip of his tea, and Brittany held up the paper.

"We read that already," she said before giving Amelia a smile. The woman had taken a place on the wall near the door to lean against as she crossed her arms with an exasperated sigh at her husband. Amelia smiled back at Brittany.

"And he's letting Lucius back into school," Malcolm went on. "That's the part that surprises me."

Marcus nodded before setting his tea down. "Yes, he is, but then again, that's probably just to prove to Gina that he thinks that 'little Lucius' can take Jessica Ziners on in a duel."

Malcolm nodded with a roll of his eyes.

"Can you think of any parents we haven't touched base with yet?" Malcolm asked with a shift of topics.

Marcus nodded. "The Prewetts and the McKinnons. I would have suggested swinging by the Lestranges, but something tells me that if Malfoy's keeping his kid in school, they will do the same with their children."

"I have a feeling that we should swing by them to take their temperature on this though," Malcolm suggested.

Marcus nodded. "Probably a good idea. Iris Lestrange works with Gina, so I'll speak with Gina when she barges into my office in an hour to demand the most up-to-date information.

"Then about the Prewetts and the McKinnons. I can hit the Prewetts obviously," Marcus spoke of the fact that Adrian Prewett was a fellow Auror.

"Allyson McKinnon works at Gringotts, right?" Malcolm asked and received a nod from Marcus. "I can speak with her this afternoon," he said.

"They're like a two man army, aren't they, Brittany?" Amelia asked Brittany with a grin.

Brittany laughed.

Marcus grabbed his mug and was about to take another sip of tea, but before he did, he mused, "Actually two men and one woman."

"Yeah, I'm the Captain, Marcus is the field Commander, and Gina's our mercenary," Malcolm said and walked out to the laughter of everyone in the office.

_We're going to have to make sure we know what to say to skip around the fact that Tom was there_, Casey told Jessica in her head. Jessica had just gotten done telling him in detail what had happened after he had become unconscious from the Cruciatus Curse.

_That shouldn't be too hard_, Jessica replied.

Casey gave a slight nod.

_It's going to be hard from here on out_, the 11-year old said suddenly, a philosophical note in his voice. _It's going to be more of a game. Tom's not going to believe for a second that Dad was ratting on him, but Hell will freeze over before he lets the other Death Eaters know. Tom is still going to try and control us._

_ That's nothing new_, Jessica interrupted.

_But what is new is that it's going to be completely Tom now. No more Dad to do the day-by-day supervision. Tom is going to be very nervous, and the more nervous Tom is, the more unpredictable he is._

Casey lapsed into silence. It was a few minutes before either made a noise again.

_But we can't do anything because of what we heard_, Jessica said._ That someone is in place to kill Uncle Danny, Riley, and __Andorra__._

_I know,_ Casey replied with a sigh.

_The problem is that Tom doesn't know that we know that,_ Jessica said, fear in her voice.

Casey didn't know how to reply.

"You did what?" Tom couldn't help but ask. He tried to control his anger and panic as Ignatius Malfoy handed him a newspaper – a freaking newspaper! He not only did what he did, but he did it in print!

Tom read over the article quickly. Okay. The damage was done. Tom thought over what Ignatius had reported to him yesterday morning. Jessica's story was marvelous. He doubted that Jeffery had been communicating anything of the nature Jessica was describing with the Department. It was not that he didn't think Jeffery capable and willing – after all, Tom had known Jeffery since both were 11 years of age; Tom had liked him because of his ambition, so Tom didn't delude himself into thinking that Jeffery wasn't ambitious enough to try to outdo Tom. However, Tom knew that Jeffery had not been turning over evidence on Jonathon and the other two.

Jessica's story was brilliant. He wasn't sure if it was a mere coincidence at how perfectly it had worked out, or if she had already known, but either way the story was marvelous. And it worked perfectly for him. His followers wouldn't suspect her and her wayward allegiances.

Tom would probably have questioned where Jeffery's loyalty had lain upon hearing of Jonathon's demise. But no, Tom didn't need to know now. Tom didn't doubt where Jeffery's loyalty had lay at the time of his death by the mere fact that it was Jessica accusing him. If there was one thing he didn't doubt at present, it was that Jessica's loyalties did not lie with Tom.

He had been hoping when he had gotten word of Jeffery's death that Jessica and Casey would not be returning to Hogwarts. Where Jeffery had placed Jessica there to gain some influence over Dumbledore, Tom had feared the opposite. Tom had been nervous about what influence Dumbledore might hold over her. Alternatively, if she could be placed under Tom's own care for the same length of time that she spent at Hogwarts, he could show her that the way with him was better. And if he couldn't convince her of that, that time would be spent breaking down every last one of her defenses until she finally submitted to him.

But now that wasn't possible. Tom looked back at Ignatius angrily and the man's smiling face faltered for a second. He had thought his master would be pleased. Pleased was one thing Tom was not right now, but just as he opened his mouth to say so, he shut it. He remembered how Ignatius had introduced this topic: _Someone that many people care about – including Marcus Potter, Gary Rum, and most of all, Albus Dumbledore. She can get close to them, learn how they work. Then, if and when we need it, she can be close enough to kill them as she had her traitor father._

They didn't know, Tom thought to himself. They couldn't know, he reminded himself. He would look weak.

Plus, Miss Ziners was a great prize, an excellent weapon. And, he thought with a smile, more than I've given her credit for. Tom had always known that Jessica would one day become a worthy witch, worthy of a place in his circle. At 12, her first murder. And it was her own father. All the better. She would one-day crack, he knew it.

_Yes, my Death Eaters must not know, at least yet. This worthy prize is not quite in my clutches, but given time, she will be. Patience was a virtue_. He would show Dumbledore that he would not crack under the wait. He knew how Aurors worked. It was all about patience. Tom would be patient.

And for now, he would allow Jessica to return to school. But Tom needed to let her know that while he might not be able to touch her while she was under the protection of Hogwarts, he still could hurt her.

"The mail is here," Molly Weasley announced with a smile as she looked out the window. Jessica and Casey turned towards the window in time to see a darker colored, ugly Eagle Owl fly in and straight to Jessica.

Both Jessica and Casey stared at it as if they had never seen an owl do this before.

"Well, go on," Molly urged, giving the kids a curious look at their actions. "Open it."

"Uh, okay," Jessica said, taking the letter off. She looked at the envelope and opened it slowly. By the time she saw the writing, she gave Molly a big smile. "It's from Lily's parents," she said. "Lily must have gotten a new owl."

Molly smiled in relief. Jessica and Casey were both acting weird. "I'm going to go see if supper's about ready to be served," she said before leaving.

"That's not from Lily's parents," Casey stated as soon as the door shut behind Molly.

Jessica gestured angrily towards the owl, causing it to fly and perch on the end of the bed. "Does that look like a bird Lily would get?"

"No, it looks like Tom's bird," Casey replied.

Jessica turned and looked straight into her brother's eyes. "You must be losing some of your memory," she said quietly.

Casey gave her an offended look.

"That _is_ Tom's bird," she replied before starting to read the letter.

"Read it aloud," Casey urged. "I'm still having some problems with my sight."

Jessica glanced around the room and was about to start reading, but stopped again, set the letter down, got up and walked around the Hospital Ward, checking every nook and cranny for any person or creature and checking to make sure every door was secured. She finally went back to the bed and picked up the letter before sitting on the bedcovers.

She read:

_Dearest Jessica,_

_ I have heard about everything, from your father to your uncle Jonathon, and to the charges they are bringing against you. Remember that you always have a place at my side, a place where no one would dare touch you or your brother, should you choose to finally accept that honored and protected position._

_ Regrettable, I feel I must say this next part. I hope one day I will not be driven to these extremes again, but until I feel you have joined me with your full mind, body, and heart, I am driven to these extremes. It is only for the better of you and your young brother, almost so tragically lost due to recent events._

_ If you decide that you must speak of things you know to the likes of Dumbledore or Rum or others in positions to cause my followers and I trouble, I will order the murder of your uncle, __Andorra__ Dumbledore, and Riley Haderson. You know me well enough to know that I am capable of seeing to their murder before things turn ugly._

_ Yours Truly,_

_ T.M.R_

Jessica glanced over the words again, before giving a tired sigh. She put her knees up and grabbed her arms around them as though she were cold.

"Why do you suppose he wrote the letter?" Jessica asked her brother without looking at him.

"I suppose he's nervous now. I assume he probably didn't want Ignatius to do what he did. We've known since we've started school that he doesn't want us here. He wants us under his influence all the time. Here, we're under Dumbledore's influence. He doesn't like that. But he doesn't want the others to know that we aren't blind followers, so he has to continue for them like us staying here isn't a really bad idea in his book."

Jessica glanced over her knee at the letter. "And this was a warning that us speaking should be a really bad idea in our book."

Casey nodded, but Jessica didn't see him.

"You two must have attended school around the same time," Marcus said quietly.

Tom nodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Yes, we did." Tom shook his head. "I still can't believe it. Abusing his own kids. Of all the atrocities," Tom's voice broke, causing him to swallow. "And that poor young girl…driven to such extremes…" Tom shook his head again.

"I know," Marcus said on a sigh and a nod of his head. "Jessica was pretty distraught with what she did. She tried to kill herself soon after it happened."

Tom gave his boss a genuine surprised look. "She tried to what?"

"Kill herself. She almost succeeded, too." Marcus shook his head again. "She feels pretty horrible for what happened."

"Poor girl," Tom whispered. With another shake of his head, Tom said, "I had better get going up to Manchester to check out that lead."

Marcus gave him a dismissive nod as he opened the next file on the pile on his desk.

Tom left the office but didn't smile until well after he apparated to Manchester. So, Miss Ziners was feeling pretty horrible. Jeffrey had achieved Madeline's submission after he had gained her trust (which had been no easy task, Tom admitted to himself). Trust was something that Tom knew he wouldn't gain from Madeline's young daughter if she remained at Hogwarts. But there was another route he could take. Tom chuckled to himself.

It was pointless to fight him, and the dear girl would soon learn that…

Jessica kept her nose dug in her Potions book when they made the Auror change. She didn't like it that the Aurors that had to keep tabs on her and her brother started to stay in the Hospital Ward with them, but she thought it best not to complain. She worried that if she did, they weren't going to let her and Casey stay at Hogwarts. Right now, that was their only salvation.

So far, though she had heard of many of the Aurors that watched them, she had barely exchanged a word or two with them before this incident. Unfortunately, this lack of intimate knowledge didn't deter them from trying to start a conversation with Jessica and Casey while they supervised the kids. Both kids were cordial but made sure that the fact they didn't want to talk was made obvious. It usually did the trick.

When the new Auror was settled, Jessica peeked over the edge of her book to see who it was. When she saw who it was, she stuck her nose deeper in her book.

"Have I become ugly or something?" Riley asked without looking from the book he had bought with him to read.

"No," she mumbled, sticking her nose farther in the book.

"Why is it every time you look at me lately, it's either very painful or very scary for you?" She glanced back at him but stuck her nose back in the book when she saw he was now looking directly at her.

She didn't answer him.

"Or maybe you've heard," he murmured before sighing and turning back to his book.

"Heard what?" She asked to the Potions text.

"His being assigned to the case," Casey murmured.

Jessica glanced at her brother before going back to her book and shrugging. "Yeah, I've heard."

"Is that why you can't look at me for longer than two seconds?" Riley persisted.

Jessica took a deep breath before giving in. She shook her head.

She heard Riley shut his book. "What is it then?" He asked in _that_ voice. Jessica knew that voice. She hated that voice. It was the voice he got when he wasn't going to give up until he got what he wanted.

Jessica kept her eyes resolutely on her book, trying to out-stubborn him. Riley grabbed her book and pulled it out of her hands. He held it away from her so she couldn't grab it back. Casey gave up his own pretense of reading his Transfiguration textbook to look after the interaction, intrigued.

"Jessica, I'm your friend, right?"

She didn't look at him as she nodded.

"You're my friend too." He stopped even though he sounded like he wanted to say more. He seemed to be having a debate with himself.

She swallowed. She looked up only just a fraction so she could look at him. She glanced immediately away. "Don't ask me 'why'," she said in a choked whisper.

"I wasn't planning to. Not yet, at least. What I want to know is why I've caught the plague. Why can't you look at me, Jesse?"

Jessica swallowed again, shamed when she felt her eyes become wet. She blinked what she could away quickly. "I saw you."

"What's that mean?"  
"Afterwards," she explained. "When Uncle Danny was taking me out of the room. I saw you over Uncle Danny's shoulder."

"What was wrong about me then?"  
"I know you know it. I know you're the only one that seems to realize it yet."

"What do you think I know?" Riley pressed, his voice now a voice that one would almost associate with a voice one would use to soothe an injured animal.

"I'm a killer," her voice broke at the end, embarrassing her in her weakness.

She didn't expect Riley's reaction. He chuckled.

"You're one of those people, Jessica, aren't you? Personally, I didn't think you were, but you must be."  
She didn't speak. She only merely turned her head a little to hear him better.

"You take people and things at face value. You take words at face value too." She started to turn towards Riley as he kept speaking. He leaned back again in the chair at the same rate Jessica turned her head towards him. "Killer. It's just a word. If you kill people, you're a killer, right? Then I'm a killer. Danny's a killer. Andorra's a killer. But I'm NOT a killer. Neither is Danny or Andorra. Do you know what the difference is between us and people like Grindelwald, Jessica?"

She shook her head.

Riley smirked as he answered. "What you feel after the killing. It's the worse part of the job for Aurors. We never get any pleasure from it, and it's always our very last resort."

"Aurors and those that worked for Grindelwald are just different sides of the same coin," Jessica responded. She felt Casey give a small jerk. No surprise there. Jessica had just paraphrased Tom.

"We're all wizards and witches, Jessica. Of course we're all the same coin. Each individual has a side."

This gave Jessica pause. She hadn't thought about it that way before.

"How did I look at you that day, Jess? How did I hurt you that day?"

Jessica looked away from Riley. "You were reading something off of Dad's desk, and then you looked up and gave me this horrified look."

"Did you ever figure it was more the desk than you?" Riley asked, suddenly becoming very quiet. Jessica looked back at him. Riley never wavered in looking at her.

"What was on the desk?" She asked.

Suddenly, Riley smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know?" His tone was teasing.

She stuck out her tongue before holding out her hand. "Book?"

Riley started handing it back before looking at the cover. "Potions. Ick."

She grabbed it. "I'm not that good. Rum keeps telling me to study when he brings up painkilling potions."

Riley gave a soft chuckle before he opened his own book. Jessica glanced over to try to see what he was reading, but the book was flat in his lap and despite his leaning back in the chair, he was able to read avidly. Jessica glanced at the pack at his feet that he had brought. It was holding three or four more texts, but their titles were equally unreadable.

"What are you reading?"

"Defending Yourself Against Magical Beasts," he replied quickly. He never looked up.

Jessica was silent a second as she stared at his face. "You're lying," she said after about half a minute. She had a small smile on her face.

Riley smirked at his book. "I learned from the best," he murmured.

Jessica stuck out her tongue and blew a big raspberry, causing Riley to laugh.

Another letter came from Tom that night. Casey was angry. Casey was livid. But he couldn't do anything as he couldn't even walk yet. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to hurt something. Unfortunately, the only thing close enough to hurt was the one whose hurt he wanted to avenge.

The letter was again to Jessica, delivered by Tom's ugly owl. It read:

_Dearest Jessica,_

_ As I learn more about this case, I am pleased that you learned so much from me. You didn't deliver the Avada Kedavra right away. You wanted to see it work, just as I would have. There is nothing like the rush of power you feel when watching the life leave from another human body and knowing that you caused it, is there?_

_ Also, you have no idea how pleased I am that you did not whine when he delivered the Strickiomus'. You kept advancing upon him, knowing you were stronger, knowing that you would show him who was stronger. You are, my dear Jessica. You were stronger than your father. As I shall prove that I am stronger than the one that hinders me, you proved you were the one stronger than the one that had hindered you. We must discuss your new role among my associates._

_ Yours Truly,_

_ T.M.R_

Everything that Riley had said earlier that day was lost by the end of that letter. Casey knew that Tom had loss the panic at the lack of supervision Jessica and Casey now had. Now, the Dark Lord was doing something different. He was going directly for Jessica's heart. Once he had her heart, both Casey and Tom knew, he would have her mind, which was exactly what Tom was seeking. All he was going to have to do was show her how pointless it was to fight.

Jessica had tried to kill herself on Christmas Day because she thought she had become what Tom had wanted – a killer. She didn't want Tom to win though.

And then there were the thoughts that occasionally went through each of the Ziners kids' heads. Though the siblings never talked about it, Casey knew that his sister had the same doubts he did. Wouldn't it be easier just to submit to Tom's power? They really could be powerful. No more Black to harass them. The Malfoys would bow at their feet. McGonagall and Medley wouldn't look at them suspiciously but rather quake with fear in their presence. Casey wondered what it would be like, what it would feel like. They wouldn't have to fight anymore, fight Tom or fight the people wanting to know what Casey and his sister knew. It would be so much easier than fighting…

But they continued to fight. And they knew to even give a little bit would be to walk on a very fine line.

On Christmas Day, Jessica felt that she had not only walked that line but crossed it. She wanted to end her life before she gave up, gave in fully. But she hadn't and now they were in a different battle, a whole new game.

Casey looked at his sister in the dark of the Hospital Ward. It was nearing midnight. She was sitting, with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms hugging them tightly. The letter was clenched in her hand even though the time she could have read it again had long past with the setting of the sun and the blowing out of the candlelight.

Yes, this was a whole new game. Casey swallowed. But this game had not only changed for Jessica. The game was different for Casey too. He was no longer a pawn. He was in the game this time and he was an important piece, whether or not Tom ever acknowledged that. Casey was playing tug-and-war. And the winner got his sister.

The game had always been a battle for feelings, for minds. The kids had always thought that Tom had wanted them both – though each knew that Jessica was more important, and Casey was expendable. It was a battle for their hearts and their minds. _Submission. Submission. Submission. She submitted._ Casey said this over and over in his head. _Mom submitted. Her mind was hers. Her powers were his. What did this mean?_ But Casey felt he knew. He would have to look through the diaries of the Mighty Bloods of the past to find for sure. He knew that if Tom knew it, it had to have been written in there. But Casey felt he knew what it was before he touched those books.

They did not know a lot about the Mighty Bloods. Generations had researched and done experiments, some on their spouses, some on their kids, some on themselves. It was all written about in these diaries. _Was it possible that there was another spell…a spell of relief?_ Casey wondered to himself. _Was it possible to give up your power to another? But submission_, Casey shook his head, _not 'transfer'_. The body was a puppet then, he would think.

No matter what it was, he knew he couldn't tell Jessica. Not now. Not when she was like this. Not when she would want it. She would want the weight off her shoulders. She hated what was within her, because it had brought this on to them, brought it on to others – innocent people. She would want to stop being responsible for her actions. If she was being controlled by someone else, she had an excuse for not fighting, for just giving up.

It was up to Casey, and Casey alone, to not let this happen. This was a battle for Jessica's mind, for her thoughts, and Casey knew her well enough to know that she thought she had to go this alone.

Casey's strength was still minimal, but he knew he had to give her something in order to fight. Her mind was wounded, and that's what Casey would lend. He would fight this battle for her for the time being, even if she didn't know it. She needed to heal her mind before she faced Tom again. Casey would fight the battle from inside the castle. He would figure out how to ward off those wanting to know what happened. He would figure out how to ward off attacks by Voldemort because he knew that these attacks would only require a skilled mind, something that Tom – whether intentionally or unintentionally – had given Casey. And Casey would help his sister to heal mentally before their next encounter with Tom.

Casey laid a hand on Jessica's back. She took a minute, but she turned to him. His eyes were use to the dark, but all it took was the moon to glitter off of her eyes to let him know that she had been silently crying.

"I'm still here," he said quietly. "I want you here as well."

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm here too," she said, amused.

Casey touched her head. "No, this." Casey pointed to the letter. "He wants to take your mind, and he can do so without ever coming into this castle."

Jessica's smile faded away before she turned her head back to look away from him.

Casey frowned, but his hand dropped.

To be continued….(and hopefully a lot quicker than the last two…)

Author's Note: Don't worry, things will get better before they get worse again….then they'll get better…then they'll get worse again….then better….then….you get the picture…..in other words, NO, it's not an angsty fic…


	9. Starting Somewhere

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura )

**Chapter 9: Starting Somewhere**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. I'm not making a red cent (or a cent of any other color). You know the drill.

Hopefully, I'll stop being late with these chapters.

I've had the summer from hell. Just to give you an idea, I looked forward to coming back to start my second year of my senior year in college just to get away from the stress of the summer. Yep, I've officially gone crazy.

I had something good this summer. Somewhere in there this summer. I'm pretty sure. But all of that is badly overshadowed by the horror of August 7th.

I have another dedication.

It was but a month and a day my family was graced with a gift from God. She was beautiful. With steel blue eyes, she was a delight. I will never forget the day when I held her for that hour. She was awake for most of the time, and we stared at each other, in equal awe I'm sure. Even though I had been an aunt many a time before her, twice I had been proven how quickly they could be taken away. I held onto her tight, even when I fell asleep with her in my arms, she just sleeping as soundly as I. My sister-in-law and mother wished that they had had a camera, and I had too, but some things were not meant to be. And I didn't believe it when my sister woke me up at 5 in the morning on August 7th with a news which I didn't believe. I don't think any of us did, because as I said I had lost two before, one to a drunk driver, the second to brain problems. The more it happens to you, the more you cherish your nieces and nephews, but the more it happens to you, the more you believe that it can't happen again. But it does, and on August 7th, it did again. This time, SIDS was the killer.

This chapter is dedicated to my niece, Jennalice, who lived from July 6, 2004, to August 7th, 2004. And though part of me wish it had known that she would only live a month and a day so I didn't get that close to her, I truly do know, as they say, I'm glad I hadn't known. I'm glad I had that day where I held her in my arms, her eyes looking at me as I looked at her.

Now on to much happier things. I know many of you do not believe things will be happier for my story, but they will be. Just as we all go through our times of depression, so must Miss Jessica Ziners. You see, for a long time, Tom Riddle acted as though Jessica were a simple child, not capable of much without his molding, a molding which he had believed unfinished yet. Mr. Riddle still believes Jessica too good, and good cannot defeat the force that goes by the name of Lord Voldemort. Good, after all, plays by the rules. Lord Voldemort doesn't…but something is yet misunderstood about playing by the rules…

I can't help but to tease my readers. I love you all, you patient beings.

But, we must go forth. Life follows along a timeline, and we must continue along our timeline. Jessica has a path to continue walking. Chapter 7 unleashed chaos, Chapter 8 started redefining things in order to get out of this chaos. Now, in order to straighten things out so our characters can go forth to make choices then changes, they must straighten out this confusion. In order to do that, they must start somewhere…

No new characters this time!

I'm going to start adding asterisks before and after italics, so those that are reading this on an italics unfriendly website can still have the pleasure and ease afforded by the italics. Just pretend everything in a set of asterisks are italicized.

The Master Character List is located in its usual spot. Sorry for its drab, but time and web expertise are my current enemies…

I've also started a Live Journal so you guys can bug me. It's also there so I can update you guys when I'm late with chapters (like the past few). I want to let you guys know that I haven't given up on this story and am not planning to. Also, if you have questions about my fan fiction, this is the place. (I will also answer questions when it's left in a review, but I would prefer it on Live Journal now.

The Live Journal is also a place for general fan fic discussion (for the pros and cons and for tips on fan fiction writing). It's for everyone to discuss, not just me. I'm still learning from the best, from my very friendly yahoo group that shall not be named, but the gals know who they are. For the Live Journal, just go to Live Journal and do a user search for my regular screen name (bch035) – and that's a zero not a letter. You have to be a registered user to post (only thus far; depending on how things go, that's subject to change later). As far as I know, you can see the journal without being a registered user though.

I have chapters 10 already written and chapter 11 half way completed, so hopefully, I'll be quicker with the next few chapters.

A HUGE thanks to Dorothy for the medical knowledge. Despite my numerous medical issues, I know little about it, especially when it would come to Casey's legs. Hopefully, I use her knowledge well.

I'm going to start adding timing to the storyline, as such:

Hogwarts, Marauders Timeline

Jessica is in her Second Year

It is January, and school has just restarted after Christmas Break.

And here we go…

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."

Robert Frost

Not even Gary Rum bothered to hide the fact that he kept peering nervously at the doors to the Great Hall. All of the professors were peering.

"She does know that she doesn't need to attend dinner tonight, right?" Stephen asked the headmaster.

"Yes, Mr. Medley, but she insisted," Dumbledore replied patiently.

Stephen sighed.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

She stood beside the stairwell, cloaked in the darkness. Dumbledore had placed her in a room near the entrance of the dungeons. Even though he hadn't said it, she knew it was because of the proximately to Gary. If she needed someone to talk to, he wanted someone nearby that she would feel comfortable to talking to. As she watched the kids enter the Great Hall, she thought to herself with a smile, that move was _so_ Dumbledore.

This thought was followed by a frown. He still thought she was worth it. Worth saving.

Jessica's ears caught the laughter first before she saw the five boys of the Gryffindor dorm descend the stairs. She backed into the darkness a step for fear that James would feel her near. She knew he would respect her space within the building of Hogwarts, but she was still nervous about confronting him. How much did he know? What did he think?

Before Jessica gave much thought to that, she noticed a swirl of dark, red hair. Jessica stumbled backwards in the frantic effort to hide.

Once she was sure Lily was gone, Jessica took a deep breath. It was now or never. She stepped out of the darkness and started towards the Great Hall with a single-minded determination.

She brushed by people, heard the whispers, felt the stares and the pointing, but she kept going. It wasn't until she walked up to the Slytherin table that she stopped. Where should she sit? Where was it safe? Everyone turned to her as she surveyed the table. She gulped.

Suddenly, in the noise and the visual pain of everyone looking at her, she saw something. It was Bertie Magal. She had scooted over and patted the seat next to her. It would be between her and Narcissa Black and across from Rabastan Lestrange. On Rabastan's left was Severus and on his right was Lucius. Could Jessica do this?

Jessica looked at Bertie's encouraging face. The shy girl was trying to offer a place of solace. She didn't know that the only place Jessica had in the living world right now that was safe was the spot next to her brother in the Hospital Ward. But Jessica knew that she had gone too far to stop now. She walked forward and took her place.

The meal started soon afterwards, and Jessica struggled to participate in the conversation as she tried to rustle up an appetite for the food she was putting on her plate.

"It was a pearl necklace," Narcissa was saying, describing what her father had given her for Christmas. "Very expensive," she purred.

When she got done going through the rest of her gifts, she turned to Jessica. It was an attempt to talk to her that no one had tried since Jessica had entered the Hall, so that had to be commended. But the question was rather tasteless.

"So what did you get for Christmas, Jessica?" Jessica looked back at her plate intently, Narcissa not taking long to realize what she had asked. "Oh, I'm sorry, Jes—"

"It's alright," Jessica said, but she didn't answer the question. Father had gotten her the latest set of dictionaries on spells of dark magic. _They_ would be thrilled, and that was the precise reason Jessica didn't want to say it.

Rabastan made a point of changing the subject then. Unfortunately, he changed it to Voldemort.

"I heard that he's going to start using his symbol with other attacks," he whispered excitedly.

Jessica wasn't looking at anyone but her plate. The topic was making her sick. He had succeeded. She was a killer. But he still didn't trust her. That meant something, right?

Jessica would never forget the look on her father's face as she said the words. His shock and surprise, then horror just before the spell hit him. Then he was gone. Even before he hit the floor, he was _dead. _And Jessica had been the one to kill him. No matter what Riley said, he couldn't change that fact. She was a murderer.

"I think that was so cool he started using the symbol when he did. What a way to make yourself known," Narcissa said.

"But Potter doesn't even know it was him," Bertie whispered.

"Oh, he will," Narcissa said haughtily. "I think it's funny that that moron doesn't know."

"He doesn't know anything," Lucius added.

Narcissa gave Lucius a flirtatious smile. He merely nodded at her.

"Father says that Potter called that old bat Moody in," Lucius announced.

Rabastan chuckled. "Oh, he won't find anything."

The others nodded. Jessica kept looking at her food, swallowing the bile in her throat. She felt what she had already eaten threatening to come back up.

"I heard why you did what you did," Rabastan suddenly whispered across the table to Jessica. She looked up at him in surprise, not remembering right away which story of the truth he was referring to. Then she remembered that he only knew one of the stories…that was if Tom hadn't told him the other story. But, why would he? Unless Rabastan was the school spy…could he be?

"_He's_ right proud of you, probably." No, Rabastan wasn't the spy, Jessica thought to herself.

She pulled herself back to the conversation as Rabastan continued, "I can't believe your father would have had the nerve to turn his brother in. I mean, didn't he have a sense of loyalty? We pure bloods have to stick together, us Death Eaters even more so, right? But you're one of us, Jessica, aren't you? I don't need to tell you this. You've proven yourself now."

Jessica's hand flew to her mouth as she felt herself start to throw up. She got up and ran out of the Great Hall, praying she made it to a toilet in time.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

From down the table, Jeff Rin watched the scene play out. He didn't know what was said and, personally, he didn't want to know. When Jessica Ziners ran out of the hall, he got up and started after her, calling the female Slytherin Prefect down.

When Jeff exited the Great Hall, he saw Jessica entering a door on the other side of the Entrance Hall. He jogged across the way and got into the next hall in time to see her enter into the girl's loo. Jeff waited outside the loo for five minutes, figuring that he would give her time to do her business, before he knocked on the door.

"Jessica?" He called, a bit uncertainly.

No response.

Jeff knocked and called again. When he still received no response, he knocked another time, but instead of saying her name, he said, "If you don't respond, I'm coming in!"  
"Go away," came a quiet return call.

"No," Jeff said and opened the door. He closed his eyes as he walked in. "I'm opening my eyes now, so you better be descent."

He heard her crawl somewhere to his right, so he opened his eyes and looked to his right. There, bunched up beside the toilet was Jessica. She had part of her robe covering her face, but he could see her back shaking as she cried as silently as she possibly could.

"Ahh," Jeff said, feeling his heart break at the sight, but unsure of exactly what to do about it. He went up to Jessica and kneeled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know, I know," he said. He didn't say, 'It's going to be okay,' because if there was one thing he had learned in the past month, it was that those words were the last thing that would help someone in this state. "Let's take you back up to the Hospital Ward. Dinner was too much too soon."

Jessica just nodded before using her robes to wipe at her face. "They're not going to be out there, are they?" She mumbled.

"Not many yet, I'm guessing," he said as he helped her stand up. "I'll hex them if they say anything to you," Jeff said with a smile in his voice.

Jessica gave him a weak smile in return.

They went out of the loo. Jessica was looking down as Jeff led her to the Entrance Hall, so she didn't see Professor Rum at the end of the hall. Rum gave Jeff a questioning look. The 16-year old nodded before gesturing with his head that Rum should make himself scarce before Jessica saw him. The professor looked relieved before he did as asked.

Jeff got Jessica to the Hospital Ward without further incident, but before they went in, Jessica asked him, "Why are you helping me? I thought I was one of the bad guys."

Jeff thought over his answer for a minute before responding quietly, "I was so intent on hating everybody after my father died, including myself. I hated that I didn't say anything. I forgot that the reason I hadn't ever said anything was because I was a prisoner inside the Slytherin House. If I spoke, being murdered wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. It took this really annoying Second Year to make me realize that I might not be the only prisoner. And I can't expect others to sacrifice their loved ones for my father that's already gone."

Jessica's eyes went to her feet before she looked back up at Jeff. "You can't tell—"

Jeff quickly shook his head. "No matter how much I want to, I won't. This is something I understand more than you think."

"You can't defend me either," Jessica responded quietly. "You'll become a target."

Jeff searched her face before asking, "Exactly how important are you, Jessica?"

Jessica looked back at her feet.

Jeff shook his head. "I shouldn't have asked that. Sorry."

She shrugged. "That's fine."

Jeff looked at his own feet for a minute before asking, "You're still not free, are you? I mean, other than still being a Slytherin, you're still not free."

Again, Jessica didn't respond to him. He looked up to find her eyes still on her feet.

"We'll one day be on the same side, Jess. One day," he said quietly.

She shook her head even though her eyes remained on her feet. "Not that long ago," she said almost wistfully, "I dreamed of becoming an Auror like my Uncle Danny."

"I'm studying to become an Auror," Jeff replied. Jessica glanced towards the door, and knowing that she probably wanted to go lie down, he grabbed her shoulder. "One day we'll come for you, Jess. One day."

Jessica gave him a sad, disbelieving smile before saying, "I promise you, Jeff, if I can manage it, I'll one day deliver to you the man that delivered your father."

With that, she disappeared into the Hospital Ward.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Riley read over the document again. His mind played over what he had seen on Christmas, how the office had looked, what came out of the wands. His eyes fastened back on the document. Madeline Ziners had hid her money from her husband.

His mind wasn't fully grasping the idea yet, though he knew it to be on the edges of his brain. Suddenly, he walked out of the office Andorra had loaned him for this investigation. She had wanted it separate from the Dark Operators joint offices because of Daniel. Riley couldn't get use to the new office and all-together didn't like it, but he understood his boss' reasoning, so he used the office.

Riley walked to Andorra's office and gave a light knock.

"Come in!" She yelled.

He walked in, happy to see that no one else was around. He wanted to keep this contact with Andorra – and its contents – as quiet as possible.

"Miss Dumbledore, I need your help on something," he said after shutting the door.

"What is it I can do for you, Riley?"

"I would like to look at the file on Madeline Ziners death."

Andorra's smile fell from her face. Other than that, she didn't move.

"I want to keep this really quiet, because I obviously don't want rumors to fly about only a mild nagging suspicion I have, but…"

"You don't think…"

Riley shrugged. "There was something I found in Jeffrey's office that's starting to make me wonder."

"We would have caught on to something suspicious if she was murdered," Andorra said.

"Not if the murderer had a significant understanding of what we would have been looking for. Jeffery Ziners was a bright man. He could pick up on that stuff. Also, the surprise and shock of Maddie's death would have hindered any investigator because we all knew her. And then there was the depression." Riley sighed. "Anyway, I don't even know yet. I just think I need to look into the possibility. It might explain a lot about this current case."

Andorra still looked hesitant. "Look, Riley, even if you're sure, bringing this up would not only upset Daniel, but the kids."

Riley closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them and nodded. "I need to look at it. I just need to."

Andorra gave Riley a searching look. "You have to be sure you want to wade in this pool with Daniel," she said quietly.

"Those kids need me right now more than Daniel does." After a pause, Riley added, "Daniel needs someone a lot right now, but I'm not that kind of friend."

Andorra caught on to the other meaning of his words and raised her eyebrows at the boy. The corner of his mouth jerked up in a teasing smile before he asked, "Will you get the file for me? I don't have that high of clearance."

Andorra nodded. "Yes, I will. I'll wait until later tonight. The night guard won't think it unusual to see me go to the file room, and he won't question me on it. I'll leave it on your desk. In the new office."

Riley nodded. "Thanks, Miz Dumbledore."

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

_Dear Jessica,_

_ To say that things have changed would be an understatement. You have no idea how sad I am that you had to be driven to do what you did. I don't blame you. I understand. I had wondered if your father was abusing you. I just wish something had been done sooner._

_ To quote you, wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a big hug. It's a long distance hug from me!_

_ My parents wanted you to know that they are not mad at you either. It's okay about Dad's business. He'll find another investor. He'll be fine for awhile going solo though._

_ Repeat the long distance hug twice. Consider that hugs from them._

_ Are you going to be playing in the Quidditch match in January?_

_ Your Friend,_

_ Lily_

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Rohan slowly unwrapped Casey's right leg. The boy watched him intensely as he and his sister stared at Rohan's hands. Rohan had wrapped the boy's legs to cut down on the swelling. He knew that when he unwrapped the legs, gruesome cuts would be revealed. It wasn't long before the first one was unveiled.

It ran from his mid-thigh to his knee and covered in a deep red welt. Casey's fingers immediately went to it. Rohan barely stopped him in time by grabbing the boy's hand.

"Not yet. Let me touch it first."

Rohan let go of Casey's hand, and it dropped to the bed. He finished unwrapping the leg. Cuts zigzagged all the way down, several on the lower part of the leg. They may have lessened as they ran up the leg, but they got bigger. Rohan was use to such sights, but the boy was not. His eyes never moved from his legs. Rohan was silent as he wrapped his hands around the lower part of Casey's leg. Rohan noticed that one of his hands could wrap one and half times around the boy's ankle. _Too small_, Rohan thought to himself. Rohan bore witness to injuries this severe on people twice the age of this boy and thought it was too young, despite Rohan's own young age. But it still bothered him when it was on 22-year olds. This was an 11-year old boy who didn't even intentionally put himself in danger. Rohan's eyes moved back to Casey's. The boy's eyes were on the biggest of the scars, the one Rohan had unveiled first. Rohan's eyes moved up to Jessica. He was surprised to see that she wasn't looking at the scars at all but at him.

As if sensing the question, her frown still in place, Jessica said, "I've gotten a good look at those scars already. I'm wondering what in the hell you're thinking about doing. Why did you unwrap his leg?"

In response, Rohan's hands started to gently massage. "Tell me when it hurts, Casey," he said, intentionally ignoring Jessica.

"It hurts already," Casey said. "But I'll let you know when I can't stand it."

Rohan massaged Casey's leg, right up to the top of the last scar and started wrapping it up again. The whole process occurred in silence, with the exception of the occasional gasp from Casey. Rohan had never looked directly at Jessica the entire time, though out of his peripheral vision he had noticed her. Her eyes had remained deadlocked on Rohan and his actions except when Casey gasped; every time that had happened, she had made as though she were going to move – likely to pounce on him, Rohan guessed – but stopped herself when Casey would sit back again. _It's like she was having her own internal war_, Rohan thought to himself as he started unwrapping the second, equally injured leg.

Though Rohan had gotten the occasional moment alone with Casey, they had to pretty much be either sneaked by Jessica or Jessica had to be pretty much bodily removed from the room. _Well, not quite_, Rohan thought to himself, _but nearly_. But here was the interesting thing – Casey didn't appear to need her protection. Anytime Rohan attempted to question the boy, he was quiet and _extremely_ guarded in his answers. He was also a bit craftier in his answers than his sister was. To make this an even more intriguing situation, Casey never seemed angry about his sister's need to protect him. They definitely weren't the normal brother and sister.

Rohan chuckled silently to himself as he glanced at Jessica. Definitely not normal.

He frowned back at Casey's leg as he massaged. They weren't even the normal abused kids. Rohan's eyes on Casey's scars, he thought to himself, _it was as if they were conditioned to handle this kind of torture and not say a word. And trained not to complain._.

But their abuser was dead.

Rohan's gaze moved back to Jessica's.

_Wasn't he?_

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Riley looked over the gruesome photos.

Riley remembered the day Madeline had died. The Dark Operators had only been in operations for a year. He had known Maddie longer though, having been taken under Daniel Montgomery's wing long before that. One day, Daniel and Riley went up to the house on the hill to speak to Madeline about her newest project, one that would have been hopefully helpful to the Dark Operators in their newest case. A house elf had answered the door and explained to them that Mistress Ziners was missing, as well as the two kids. Jeffery and the other house elves were looking for them. Jeffrey came up, and soon Daniel and Riley volunteered to help in the search. It was Riley that had heard the sobs coming from Maddie's laboratory. Jeffery quickly let them into Maddie's underground workplace. They discovered Jessica and Casey on the floor, giving each other a grip of death as they bawled their eyes out. Madeline was lying on the ground, her bleeding still fresh. The laboratory had the appearance as if it had just exploded.

Madeline's body was gruesome. It was mangled and cut up.

Jeffery was looking for his wife and kids, Riley thought again. His mind went over that. His manner had been frantic and worried. He was ashen faced and a bit sweaty. He had had the appearance of a man worried to death. He had every one of their over hundred house elves searching. Would not a man that had just murdered his wife be worried that the house elves might find some incrementing evidence? Well, if they were his house elves, if they found something, they would only report it to Jeffery and Jeffery alone. That would not have worried the man. But half those house elves held an allegiance to the Montgomery side. But a man that had just murdered his wife would not hesitate to let the house elves know that he would think nothing of murdering them.

Riley looked at the report on how the room had been found. He got to the part of the magic spells found on the room. It was your basic set of spells to keep your secrets from ever exiting the lab. He read them and found nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

Riley sighed as he looked over the report again. He was not going to find anything here that wasn't by-the-book reported. He needed something that was not in a textbook. He needed to look at that room again.

He got up, file in hand, and went to Andorra's office again, praying she was still as receptive.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

It was the second day school had been in session. Jessica was in their morning Potions lesson. Professor Rum was pacing about the room, lecturing about the uses of a potion…or something. Jessica wasn't quite sure as she hadn't had the will to pay attention to classes lately. She was sitting next to Rosemary Mavea, who was sketching 'I love Rabastan' on the edges of the parchment that she should have been taking notes on.

Jessica sighed, her hands out in front of her, her fingers moving all about in a random fashion as she sat in the front of the room. She glanced over at the Gryffindor side. Lily was busy taking notes. Remus Lupin was as well. Sirius Black was doing something, but Jessica was sure it wasn't notes. James Potter's eyes had been wandering about the room, but they suddenly looked at hers. He nodded, as though he were trying to point something out to her. She didn't get it however and shrugged before turning to her other side as Rum started a pace down the aisle on her left. As Rum walked past her, he surprised her by reaching over and putting his hand over her fingers and pushing them into the table before moving on. The action had been so nonchalant that anyone that might have wondered for a second what Rum was doing moved passed it in the next second. But Jessica had realized with a sound of a soft thud what she had been doing. A book that was sitting on the table in the front of the room had been doing a small dance, barely imperceptible to anyone not looking directly at it. Jessica had been moving it with her fingers.

She sat on her hands for the rest of class.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

"Let's just hope no one catches us," Andorra said as she used the key to open the door to the house on the hill. She had used the key so as to try to keep someone from tracking their movements through Andorra's or Riley's wands.

"Let's get in and no one will," Riley replied.

Andorra pushed open the door with a heavy grunt. The two went inside quickly and shut the door. Andorra locked it as a house elf came up to them.

"You is not suppose to be in here," the elf said, giving them a nervous look.

Another house elf came in. He looked at the two and grabbed the first by her arm. "Theys can be in here, Ritty. Master is gone. We follows Master Montgomery's orders until Master Casey and Mistress Jessica come back. Master Montgomery says we cleans the house, no more, no less."

Ritty still looked nervous as he looked at the two. The second gave Ritty a pull in the other direction.

"Sorrys," the second said before the two disappeared.

Andorra shook her head with a sigh before she said, "Now, I wasn't the investigator for Madeline's accident. It was that man, Ben Hammond."

"The one that works for Derrick Reimer now?"

"Yes, and unfortunate for this theory in your brain, he was one hell of an investigator, but after that scare in Alaska, asked to be transferred to a desk job."

Riley shrugged, adding that fact to his list of facts about the oddities of Madeline's death. It didn't make the 'facts disproving Maddie's death' list though. He saw Ben's request for a transfer kind of odd. But, you never knew…

"One for your theory is that Jonathon Ziners had just become Secretary the year before."

Here, Riley merely nodded. _That_ fact he remembered. Daniel hadn't stopped complaining for months about that.

Riley closed his eyes as he pictured that day in his mind.

_What's wrong, Jeffrey?_ Daniel had questioned.

_Madeline, the kids. They're missing. I've searched the house. For two hours. I can't find them._

Daniel had thrown Riley a worried look before he nodded at Jeffrey. _We'll help you look_, Daniel said, and he and Riley had started off.

"When we started the search for Madeline and the kids, the three of us split up. Daniel and Jeffery took the east, me and the house elves the west. I had searched for thirty minutes before I heard the whimpering that led me down to Madeline's laboratory."

"Where had you gone before then?" Andorra asked.

"I just opened, shouted their names, and shut the doors of most of the west wing," Riley replied, his eyes still straight forward, and though his eyes were open, he was five years back, reliving that day in his mind's eye.

"Were you heading to the laboratory to check it as well when you heard the kids?"

Riley shook his head and started forward, in the direction of the lab. "You don't check an Unspeakable's lab without them hovering over you, Andorra," Riley said with a smirk over his shoulder at his boss. "They are paranoid, just like us Aurors." Andorra rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway," Riley continued, "I had figured that that had already been checked because of Madeline's liking to work in her own laboratory."

Andorra nodded. She and Riley had to stop in front of the statue that blocked the entrance to Madeline's lab. Riley stared at it.

"How do you propose we get in, genius?" Andorra asked with a wicked grin his direction.

Riley didn't look at her as his mind went through the possible passwords.

"Morsmordre," a house elf whispered to Riley as he walked past. It was the older house elf from earlier.

Riley looked at the elf in curiosity before he turned to the statue in utter confusion. It was moving out of the way.

"Thanks." Riley said to the elf, but the little creature didn't turn as he went into the next room.

"Strange elf," Riley whispered to Andorra.

"Nervous elf," she corrected as she glanced at the entrance to the room in which the elf had disappeared. "He's nervous about helping us, but he already knows Jeffrey's dead if he's taking orders from Daniel. Who is he scared of?"

Riley gave her a thoughtful look before he shrugged. He started down into the laboratory.

The stairwell was dark, cold, and a bit moldy from having been abandoned after Madeline's death. Riley had to move a few cobwebs out of the way as he and Andorra traversed the path that Riley had made with Daniel and Jeffrey truly not that long ago.

"Madeline didn't have a lot of dangerous spells protecting her laboratory like most Unspeakables. According to Jeffrey, that was because the kids frequently came down here, and Madeline was nervous something might happen to them if they came down without her knowing," Riley explained as they finally ran into a heavily cracked wall.

Andorra smiled. "Again, your genius would come in ever so handy here."  
Riley smirked. "Don't think I really didn't think about this," he said with a chuckle before bringing his wand up to the door. He tapped the wall in a similar fashion one would to enter Diagon Alley, but this was a different pattern. The wall split in half and each half proceeded to fold in on itself. Riley threw Andorra a smirk. "Same pattern as Salem's Alley she once told me," he said, speaking of the alley that served those going to The Salem's Institute.

They entered the laboratory. Contrary to the old, decrepit stairwell, this was pristine. The house elves had obviously cleaned it after the removal of Madeline's body.

As the two looked around, Riley took notice of the fact that the place still held a distinctive Madeline quality. It was neatly kept, containers of all shapes, sizes, and makes were on counters, on shelves, in cupboards. Some containers actually contained things, some remained empty. Various tools littered the shelves, the counters, and the cupboards around these containers, most of whose uses Riley could only began to guess.

There were two large cauldrons along the east wall, and one large, lone table on the south side of the room. Where there should have been a matching set on the north and west sides, there were not. The table that had once lain here had been broken in half, Madeline's dead form clumped in the middle when found. The cauldrons had been shattered. One had contained the deadly potion the Unspeakables had surmised after testing the residue on the broken pieces of the cauldrons and on the table. They had no idea what it was exactly, or what it was suppose to do – Madeline had kept no notes on the potion. Even after pulling in a few experts from other countries – including Gary Rum, an old friend of Madeline's and a professor at Hogwarts – the Unspeakables could not identify the potion or its intended purpose. They did know that it contained a few Muggle compounds, which, after a few tests, were discovered to make an explosion when in contact. Then there were a few others – these magical compounds – that, when mixed together, caused the skin to dry and shrink, effectively causing the cracks they had found on Madeline's body. Why she was mixing such compounds together baffled everyone involved with the case, including her husband.

Madeline had been such a cautious person, Riley knew. This had been the adamant argument on Daniel's side, and everyone knew it. What had been going through her mind that day, people asked. Was she trying to commit suicide? She had been acting unusual for a number of years, seeming to lapse into a deep depression. When Casey had gotten into an accident a mere six months before her death, her depression took a turn for the worse. While her depression had contained manic episodes, it was the normal depression. But when Casey had had his accident – reportedly in Madeline's lab and from one of Maddie's projects – she had taken a turn, becoming almost…well, for lack of a better word, dark. She almost had this obsessive determination that, as Riley had heard it, was most usually associated with the Slytherins from Hogwarts that go bad. Just before her death, there were those that questioned whether Madeline had hurt Casey on purpose. Of course, everyone shut up about that after Madeline's death.

Did she commit suicide, Riley wondered as he looked around the lab. What was going through Madeline's mind as she was down here working that day? It couldn't have been an impulsive action because the ingredients in the potion were not ones that an Unspeakable kept in their lab just by chance. Madeline had to have thought it through.

Casey's accident, Riley thought, in light of recent events…could it have been Jeffrey rather than Madeline that had done it? Might it have been something that Madeline had done in order to earn Casey a beating that nearly took his life five years ago as the one that had similarly almost taken his life about a month ago? Could Madeline have killed herself in a misguided thought that that would help the kids?

Jeffery had been such a loving husband, but that changed when Maddie died. He became distant with the kids…stricter…

Riley's eyes surveyed the lab again. What was he expecting this room to tell him? He closed his eyes. He remembered Jeffrey having to go before them, to unlock the door to the lab, being one of the very few knowing which spells would let him in Madeline's laboratory unharmed. When Riley opened his eyes after remembering that clearly, he didn't see the pristine room. This time, he saw what he had five years ago. Potion over the walls. Cauldron pieces littered the floor. The table in two, Madeline's dead body in the middle, her front half reclining on the side farthest from where the cauldron had sat, her lower half reclining on the other side. She was still covered in fresh blood. The kids sitting on the floor, hugging each other for all they were worth, sobbing as they looked at their mother.

And suddenly everything in Riley screeched to a halt.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Jessica waited after Potions as Professor Rum had caught her before she left and asked her to wait. She remained sitting on her hands as the last kid walked out.

Professor Rum was putting some of the supplies he had used during his lecture away. Instead of turning to her when he finished, he turned and walked to the back of the room to shut the door. When she heard it snap shut, she said, "I didn't realize I was doing that."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Ziners," he said in a tired voice as he walked forward and placed himself in front of Jessica, leaning his behind and back against the table in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Thank you for catching me," she said lamely, avoiding eye contact.

He was silent for so long that Jessica looked up at him. He was looking at her searchingly. "I noticed that the other Slytherins are treating you cordially," he said when he had her eyes.

_Oh, no. Of all the people to turn against her, not him, anybody but him_, she thought. She looked away.

She knew what he was thinking. If the Slytherins were treating her nicely and not ostracizing her, then that meant that they were pleased with what she had done – killed a man that had been financing Lord Voldemort. If they were followers and servants of Voldemort, and Jessica had killed the man helping advance their lord and master's campaign then truly that meant that Jeffrey had really been doing something against Voldemort and that Jessica had killed him in order to help Voldemort. Though that was the story that she wanted the Slytherins to believe, she didn't want Gary to believe it. She didn't want Gary to even know it. But he had figured it out. And now he was questioning her. He was questioning whether they were on the same side or not.

Jessica took a deep breath. This was a friendship that she had cherished almost as much as her friendship with her brother. Gary had understood her. He knew what it was like to come from where she came. To be raised by evil people. To be trained for something you didn't want to become. Gary understood this. She didn't want to lose his friendship because this was the only person other than Casey that she had been able to trust for her whole life.

But Jessica knew that it was better to let go of this friendship sooner rather than later.

She looked back at Gary, trying to make herself look guilty. "Yes, they seem to have understood why I did what I did."

She knew that while non-Slytherins would have interpreted that sentence one way, Gary, as a former Slytherin, would understand it a different way and that was the way Jessica wanted it understood.

Gary sighed. "Jessica, if there is one thing you should have learned by now, it is that you cannot lie to me. I was not thinking what you obviously thought I was. I was wondering what particular reason was behind it."

Jessica couldn't bite back the smile of relief but managed to hide it quickly. She looked back at her books before deciding to shove them back into her bag. "You've known me long enough to know I would not answer that question," she said in an almost teasing voice.

She heard Professor Rum give a soft chuckle. "That I have. I would like to discuss something else however," he said, causing her to look back at him.

Gary surprised her even further at his actions. He leaned down so he was leaning on the table in front of Jessica. He grabbed both of her hands and looked at them. She stared, fascinated by the contrast of her small, smooth, warm hands being held by Gary's large, gnarled, cold ones. "These are unusual hands, Miss Ziners. Wandless magic is a precious gift, no matter how weak it may be. While they cannot perform complex spells, the spells they can perform, when used in a certain fashion, can cause just as much damage. Just to think, to not need a wand all of the time…" He looked up into Jessica's eyes. "Miss Ziners, you have something here," he nodded towards her hands, "something here," he pulled a hand away from hers to tap the area just above her heart, "and something here," he tapped the side of her forehead. "All three can be amazingly dangerous when used in the wrong fashion. With you, Jessica, I'm worried that this," again, he tapped the spot above the heart, "used in conjunction with this," he tapped the side of her forehead, "and this," he nodded towards her hands again, "may get out of hand. You are a passionate young girl, full of a temper." Jessica smirked, causing Gary to smile as well. "Yes, but that may not always be a nice thing for you, especially now. Remember, control is of the utmost importance. You will be without your wand for the rest of the year. You will become restless. School with a wand doesn't challenge you enough. School without a wand will bore you silly, I imagine. You must not let these," he nodded towards her hands, "be controlled by this," again, he tapped the spot above her heart. "Use this, Jessica," Gary said with a sigh as he tapped the side of her forehead.

Jessica shook her head. "I'm not good at that," she said, hoping that the blatant truth would make him laugh a little.

He shook his head. "I won't let you get by with that now. You proved to the world on Christmas Day that no matter the situation, you find it possible to use this," he tapped the side of her forehead, "effectively, in even the direst of situations. And you use it well, Miss Ziners. You use it well."

Gary stood back up. "You are dismissed, Miss Ziners," he said as he turned back to his table and supplies.

Jessica finished packing up her stuff and was by the door, her hand ready to open it, before she spoke next. She turned to Gary. "Why do you believe in me?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Without turning to her, Gary said, "Why did you make friends with Severus Snape?"  
"He looked like he needed a friend, and I needed a friend."

Gary's head had turned a little to hear her answer but stayed that way to reply, "You look like you need someone to believe in you, and I need someone to believe in."

Jessica didn't know what to say to that, so she opened the door. "Bye, Professor," she called.

"Bye, Miss Ziners." She was almost over the threshold when Gary turned back to her. "Oh, and Miss Ziners."

She stopped and looked at him.

"Mind the hands not just with your temper. Mind them when you are bored in class."

Jessica smirked but nodded. "Yes, Sir," she said and left.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before now. He shook his head in disbelief.

"What is it?" Andorra asked.

Riley chuckled with the enormity of it. His eyes still on the floor where he stood, the same spot he had seen the children five years before, he said, "The doors were shut."

"What?" Andorra asked in confusion.

"The doors were shut. The children sat in here for two hours. They weren't covered in the potion, so they weren't in here when the potion exploded," once it started to shift into place, Riley couldn't stop talking, "They were missing for two hours. That was Jeffrey's accident, and we never caught it." Riley looked at Andorra finally. "You're five and seven; you find your dead mother, what are you going to do first?"

"Cry," Andorra said, slipping into the role of devil's advocate easy. Riley had a new theory, and they had to make sure it wasn't fool's gold.

"You're five and seven, how do you know she's dead? When I found my dead mother, I thought she was sleeping."

"Madeline was covered in blood," Andorra pointed out.

Riley nodded, conceding that point for a short distance before pointing out, "Your mom's got an owie. You're not going to cry right away. You're going to get Daddy for help."

"If Jeffrey was abusing them then they didn't trust Daddy."

"At least they would get an elf. If not an elf, they would try to help. The kids would have had blood on them. They didn't. Daniel checked them over thoroughly."

"They might have accidentally helped the death along," Andorra said.

"I think they would have tried to still help her."

"Let's say she did commit suicide. She ordered them not to help. They would have obeyed her."

"Madeline wouldn't have done that," Riley objected.

"A depressed person is not a predictable person, Riley."

Riley conceded that point before saying, "But two hours…"

"You still don't have a case," Andorra said with a frown.

Riley nodded and looked away in thought. "There's got to be something," he murmured as he examined the wall again. "Two hours…two hours…it's there, in the two hours…Jeffrey couldn't find them for two hours…" Suddenly, Riley looked up, and Andorra knew he had it.

"What is it?" She asked when he remained silent.

He turned to her with a smile. "You said it. Just before we came down here, you said it. Was I just about to check the lab when I heard the kids? It's right there, in two."

"What is it?" Andorra asked when he stopped.

"Even a man that was told he couldn't enter his wife's lab, with as frantic as Jeffrey was, I imagine he would have done so. For two hours, he did not check. And neither did the house elves."

"And what's number two?"  
"Madeline's potion exploded, and Jeffrey never heard it. On top of that, an Unspeakable always puts a sound barrier on their lab. But I could hear the kids crying. And there was no sound barrier on the list of spells removed from the lab."

Andorra nodded. "You do have the makings for a case," she said with a sigh. "Not the best case in the world, but a case none the less. But we need motivation. It could have been a case of passion, but…"

Riley shook his head. "I don't think it was."

"Then the motivation?" Andorra asked.

"Jessica."

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Daniel Montgomery made another restless pace of his spacious apartment. He hit the wall again with the palm of his hand, remembering gratefully in hindsight that he had long since put a sound barrier on the walls of his apartment. The reason had been two-fold – because of the security nature of his position and because he was prone to hitting his walls.

His mind went through Christmas Day for the thousandth time. He wasn't sure what bothered him more – his blindness to what had been happening or his pain at having to fight Jessica for her own life. What would drive a 12-year old to premeditate the murder of her father? Watching her little brother's life drain out of him, Daniel said in answer to his own question.

Daniel sat down with a thud, leaned forward, and put his face in his hands. Something had just hit him. Five years ago Casey had almost died in a lab accident. Six months later, Madeline had died in a lab accident. What would drive a 12-year old to premeditating the murder of her own father? Watching her father do onto others.

Daniel got up and resumed his pacing. No, no, no. He would have noticed. Just as Jessica and Casey were connected, so had been Madeline and Daniel. Why hadn't Madeline spoken to Daniel in their head, where no one would have been none the wiser? He could have helped her! Damit, he could have helped her.

Daniel bit down his sob. He had done his paces in grieving, in frustration. He wasn't going to go through that again. He needed to help Jessica and Casey now that he knew about what had been going on.

Jeffrey, the little fuck, had been using his niece's and nephew's unique conditions as an excuse to abuse them. Madeline had probably been getting abused too. The little fuck should be a happy dead fucker, otherwise Danny would kill him right now, and he wouldn't make it a slow business.

He hit the coffee table again in frustration, and his important personal documents went flying about the room. Daniel moved his hand, saying an incantation under his breath to gather all of the papers. He looked down at the new, neat pile. These were his important personal documents that he tried to avoid looking at. They had a copy of his will, Maddie's will, and Jeffrey's will as well. Right now, he was making an attempt to locate the will of his deceased brother-in-law.

Daniel's long fingers grabbed the documents, brought them to his lap, and started through them. He was merely skimming but something on the fourth or fifth page caught his attention, and he backed up. His eyes recognized it, but his brain refused to acknowledge it for a minute.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

"What do you mean 'Jessica'?" Andorra asked with a frown.

Riley looked back at his feet, remembering the kids again. "These kids were placed in here, both before and after the murder I think. It was a warning to them. I think Jeffrey made them watch her die. A hypothetical," Riley said before turning to his boss. "Jessica is seven years old. She knows that something is wrong. Maybe she witnessed a beating, or received one herself. Her mother, who is not only depressed but scared to death for the lives of her children, is not out from under the watchful eye of her husband _ever_. Jessica was never a stupid child. She figures that her mom won't be able to tell on Daddy, so Jessica plans to take it upon herself. But she doesn't do it right away. She's got to wait for the perfect time. In the meantime, something is going on between mother and daughter….maybe a secret communication of sorts. Maybe Jesse told her mom that she was going to tattle on Daddy, but Daddy finds out. As a punishment….or maybe a warning, Daddy beats the innocent party – in this case, Casey – but doesn't kill him. If he kills him, he runs the risk of making the other two angry enough that he'll lose control. Just beat Casey enough to let them know who's master here.

"But the thought of telling someone is still on Jessica's mind. She waits. Her brother heals. Still she waits. Then she decides that she's going to do it, but somehow, Daddy finds out. Maybe in that secret communication. Or maybe in some other way. He decides that this time, he can't let them go unpunished permanently. There needs to be a permanent reminder to Jessica. Meanwhile, his wife has a will leaving _a lot_ of money to him. She is expendable, especially if you look at the fact that Casey is still in the picture. He is the one that Daddy uses to maintain control on Jessica. Jessica's the older sibling. She's willing to get the beating to protect her brother, and, if the time would have presented itself, she would be willing to order her brother to go to Uncle Danny, even at the cost of her life. Casey wouldn't have liked it, but he would have obeyed. So, Daddy needs Casey to control them both.

"So, Daddy kills Mommy in front of the kids. 'Do you still want to tell Uncle Danny?' I can imagine him asking the kids. And just to really drive the point home, he locks them into her lab for awhile, just so they can sit and stare at her dead body. And he makes sure Jessica knows that Mommy's death was her fault.

"In the meantime, he sets up Mommy's 'accident'. The potion on the walls. The shattered cauldrons. Thinking about it now, it makes sense that the ingredients made no sense at the time. They weren't suppose to. They only served the purposes of explaining the injuries on Mad—" Riley stopped mid-sentence as he took a rough breath. "The Cruciatus Curse. Madeline's injuries. They were identical to Casey's." Riley didn't seem to process Andorra's reaction as he shook his head and continued, "Um, but, so you set the room up to look like an accident, remove the sound barrier so that someone searching for the kids will hear their cries. Then you frantically search the house. I imagine that Jeffrey would have eventually gotten Danny up here, but our coming was his blessing at the time."

Riley took a deep breath and looked around the room again before he looked back at the spot where the kids had once sat.

"Five years later. It's a good time frame to wait. You wait for your wife's money. You go to get it, but low and behold, you can't get it out. Upon research, you find that your wife had another will made up. This one forbids you from getting the money. You're pissed off. Then Casey's ever untimely clumsiness comes into play. He breaks a statue, and he breaks his father's last nerve." When Riley paused, Andorra gave him a soft smile and a shake of the head.

"That's a little far-fetched, even here, Riley. Madeline had a second will? We would have to find it."

"We already have it."

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Daniel pulled the papers on top of it back, and his brain started to process his recognition of what he was looking at. It was his sister's writing. He put the papers that had been on top of his sister's discovered letter on the coffee table. It was a note his sister had written and clipped to some other papers.

Dear Daniel,

First thing you should know is that I'm sorry. For what, you might ask, and the quickest answer is, for everything. For never listening to you and marrying Jeffrey, and then for never telling you after I married him why that was a bad idea. I'm also sorry for ever giving him a second chance. If there was one mistake worse than ever marrying Jeffrey in the first place, it was ever giving him that second chance. He promised and like a fool, I trusted him. By the time I finally ever admitted to myself the error of my ways, it was too late. Casey was born, and now I wasn't just fighting for my life, but the lives of my kids and the lives of anyone I ever cared about. I could not speak anymore. All that was left to me was to fight in any and every way I knew how. I'm sorry that I never spoke to you, but if I had, you would never have lived long enough to help me. What Jeffrey wanted, he got. If he wanted my cooperation, he got it, whether I wanted to cooperate or not. I could not even speak to you in our special way because he knew. Don't ask me how, but he knew.

But I fought him as best I could. There was something that Jeffrey never accepted, something only great wizards or witches ever figure out, something only few ever realize in life. The mind can be as strong as the wand if one knows how to use it. So this is the tool I used, and if my dear children are alive by the time you are reading this, dearest Danny, then not only did I use my mind well, but I taught my children to do so as well.

I know that if you are reading this, I am not with you anymore. At the time I wrote this, I knew that I would more than likely not survive the year. Of the three, I was the most expendable. I don't know what would be worse to wish and desire. To live to help my children, only to see them die before me and live with that pain, knowing that it was my fault, or to die before my children and not have the pain but to leave them all alone. I have wished both and to death, I probably wished both.

In my desire to fight Jeffrey's every wish without causing harm to my dearests, I took something from Jeffrey that he desired greatly. In this, I may have put you in harms way, but also in this, I have given you a position to help. It is true that you did not know it at the time, but I hope you appreciate it all the same. The documents attached to this letter make up a second will of mine, being 100 per cent legal, 100 per cent fool-proof, and being dated later than the first, making this the only valid will. In this, I am taking and making sure Jeffrey never has something he greatly desires from me – my money and my possessions, including and above-all, my books. If I die (which I most likely will) before Jessica and Casey are of age, these items will go to you to keep safe until they become of age. This, something that I hold profoundly important, is something I am completely trusting you with. I know you will not let me down.

Whatever happens, Daniel, whatever happens, know that it is not your fault. It is mine. It is solely mine. And whatever happens between you and Jessica and Casey, they never knew to trust anyone but each other – especially Jessica. I daresay that she never fully trusted me. She has her brother's life in her hands, and no matter what happens, they will never be able to trust anyone but each other. It is not a matter of you gaining their trust, as I'm sure they would never hesitate in giving it to you in any other situation. Realize that even at whatever age Jessica may be now, she is more an expert at her life than you are. One day I pray to God my dear children will be safe enough to tell you, to trust you fully, but until then, please don't pressure them into anything they don't want to do or can't. They need to know that you will be on the other side, waiting for them, waiting for that one day when they're free from my mistakes. Until then, give them a hug from their Mama.

Love You,

Maddie

Daniel's eyes stayed on Maddie's name for he knew not how long before he pulled his eyes back to the top to read the letter over again. It would be awhile before he managed to pick up the letter to reveal a second will, one which gave everything that had been in Madeline's name to her kids. If she were to die before the kids were of age, the will said, Daniel would be the guardian of their inheritance. It then listed an enormously long succession of people who would be the guardian if the one before it wasn't able to. Jeffrey's name was no where on the list.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

"It was on Jeffrey's desk, right on top of everything, the day he died."

Andorra's mouth opened but nothing came out.

Riley kept silent for a minute as he paced, but finally he shook his head in frustration.

"There are just two things that are unexplained." Andorra said.

"Someone else was in the study before the accident is one of the unexplained things. Jeffrey appeared to have had something of a beating, and some things were shattered in the room. It couldn't have been either Jessica or Casey. I know that much from their wands. So someone would have been there." Riley shook his head as he tried to keep up with his own thoughts.

"Jeffrey was angry. Jessica and Casey were easy targets." Riley sighed before glancing at Andorra with a sigh. "What's the other unexplained thing?"

"The kids," she replied. "Why have kids in the first place? And why, even if they were accidents, why let them live so long? I'm sure they got to be in the way a lot of the time." Andorra shrugged. "But there is always the possibility that Jeffrey had some sick fascination with beating them. Maybe he got off on it…" Andorra looked down as she trailed off.

Riley shook his head. "There is that. We're going to have to go to Jessica for that one."

Andorra gave a sarcastic snort. "That's a conversation someone will enjoy having."

Riley smirked and nodded. "I greatly look forward to." He said sarcastically. He sighed and glanced around the room then one more time. "Well, I think I got what I came for."

"Probably more than you came for," Andorra added.

Riley ignored her and started back out of the lab, closing the door after Andorra. The two walked in silence out of the secret area of the house and were partway to the door when Riley suddenly stopped. Andorra turned and started to ask what the matter was when she noticed the look on his face and shut up. She knew the look of an Auror that was putting something together in his head.

Riley slowly did look at Andorra. When he finally spoke, it was to whisper, "I know why Jeffrey wanted Madeline's money, and I think know where his injuries came from."

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

"Potter!"

Marcus looked up from the table in the strategy room with a smile. Finally, some good news on his case.

Alastor Moody entered the strategy room and looked around. "Crouch said you requested me," Moody muttered, "but he didn't tell me it was out of sheer desperation." Moody was commenting on the state of the room. When they opened a strategy room for a case, you could tell the state of the case by the appearance of the room. The case was going well when you had parchments covering the walls, books and parchments stacked up in every corner, and torn parchment was usually strewn across the room. Except for the forensics report on the table, the list of names of those who had been in the Ministry the night the minister died posted on the wall, and a small pile of the files of some of those on the list of names, the room was empty of books, parchments, and everything but the table and one empty file cabinet.

Marcus sighed and nodded. "It is desperation, Alastor. I hope I didn't take you from anything too important."

"Nothing's more important right now than finding who killed Rin," Moody growled, the determination in his voice being one of the very things that caused the bad guys to quiver in fear in the presence of this man or upon hearing his name.

Moody walked over to the list of names. "This is pathetic, Potter," he said. "What murderer is going to leave his name behind?"  
Marcus stifled a snort of laughter. The old beast was baiting him. Moody had always thought Marcus a bit too young for his position, so he was always testing him. It had gone from the point of annoying to amusing. Marcus respected this man, so he went with the test.

"Sometimes the most obvious is so close that we chose not to see it. Of course, the murderer might not put his name down, but he might do it thinking that we would ignore something so obvious."

Alastor looked at Marcus out of the side of his eyes for a second before starting around the room again. He suddenly, however, landed his hands on the table on the other side of Marcus and looked at the forensics report. He turned it around so he could read it right side up.

"I was in a pub last night, a wizarding pub up by Manchester, you know." Alastor spoke at he looked over the report. "The bartender. If he sees something I might find an interest in, he tells me. In return, I ignore some of the things he does."

Marcus nodded when Alastor glanced at him.

"Anyway," Moody said, looking back at the report, "last night, he says to me that there was a group of wizards in there the night before. They were all wearing thick dark robes. Obviously, that's not what tipped him off. It was the fact that their hoods remained in place after they entered. They were intentionally hiding their faces. This is not unusual for this pub as these are the types of crowds it attracts. But this group, the bartender said, was definitely planning something that he thought I might have an interest in, so he gets one of his barmaids to kind of stick close by during their stay in the pub. Their tones, he said, were very hushed, so she was not able to pick up on anything really that interesting. There was one thing though…"

Moody pulled a scrap of paper from his robes and set it down in front of Marcus. It was a drawing of…no, it couldn't be. It looked like the same thing Marcus had seen in front of the Minister's office just before they discovered his dead body, but this was much clearer. The drawing was of a skull, a snake crawling out of its mouth.

Marcus glanced up to see Moody watching him very carefully. When he had Marcus' eyes again, he said, "I heard about what you saw, and thought you'd might have an interest in this. They referred to it as the Dark Mark, named after their Dark Lord."

"Voldemort," Marcus breathed. He nodded towards the picture. "That's what I saw in front of the Minister's office."

Moody nodded.

"So it was Voldemort that killed the Minister," Marcus said, "but that doesn't answer the most important question."

"How did he get in here," Moody said. Marcus nodded.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

It was the next morning when Riley's investigation took a unique turn. The young Auror had just arrived to his office when, before he even got to the door, he had to stop. Daniel was standing outside it, Andorra in tow.

"What's this?" Riley asked, with a nervous glance at Andorra. It had been just last night when Riley had made his brilliant logical deduction. He hadn't counted on seeing Daniel this morning. With Andorra. She didn't tell him, did she? No, Riley thought to himself. She wouldn't have. So what did his team leader want? He didn't look agitated. Just tired. And defeated. Riley didn't like that last thought.

"Riley," Andorra said. "Daniel found something interesting. We need to have a meeting."

Riley kept his look on Daniel the entire time Andorra spoke, but he did spare her a glance when she finished. His gaze went back to Daniel though. Daniel, his boss, his mentor, his best friend, looked more tired than Riley could ever recall him seeing the man.

Riley nodded, his eyes on Daniel the entire time. "Okay. Let's go into my office."

And when that meeting finished, Riley was never more sure he was right.

There was one last leg of this investigation left. Riley made arrangements to visit Hogwarts the next day.

His investigation would be paused when he arrived.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

The next morning, half a world away, Jessica Ziners sat in Madam Pomfrey's office alone. She was waiting for the Healer that was to speak with her and check on her mental condition. She was sitting still, thinking of ways around the questions without making the Healer think she was psychotic. _Placating was the key_, she thought to herself. But not enough that they knew what she was doing.

Jessica jumped and looked intently at the door when the door knob moved. And in walked the one man that she least wanted to have her session with.

"Hello, Miss Ziners," Rohan Figg said as he walked in and sat at Madam Pomfrey's desk.

"Hi," she said quietly, never taking her eyes from him.

Rohan intertwined his hands on the desk in front of him and smiled at her. "How are you doing this morning, Jessica?"

"Fine. Can I go?"

"No. How did dinner go last night?"  
"I almost threw up because they started talking about Christmas Day. Basically, I felt like the world's worst person because I murdered my own father, but that, too, shall pass in time, as the saying goes. Can I go?"

"No," Rohan said and started to open his mouth to ask his next question before he burst into laughter. He moved his hands then, and his posture went from straight to slouched and comfortable.

Jessica's face remained as serious as it had been since Rohan entered. Her face never once flinched when he broke out laughing. "You think my throwing up is funny?"

Rohan shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said through snorts of laughter. "You are, Miss Ziners."

"And why am I funny?"  
Finally sobering, he said, "You know all the correct answers, Miss Ziners, don't you? You know exactly what I'm required to hear, and you give it to me. But a tip for next time."

When he didn't continue, she asked, "And what's that, oh wise one?"  
Rohan leaned forward conspiratorially. "Don't finish off every answer with 'can I go?'."

"Can I go?" She asked, still serious. Rohan smiled, but when she didn't, he frowned. She smiled.

"Don't ever try to be funnier than me, Mr. Figg," she warned.

Rohan laughed. "I'll remember that." He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "So, how have you been accepted by the other little snakes?"  
"You were a Gryffindor," Jessica said in response, her grin there but small. She then shrugged. "They're kind of avoiding me. At least I don't have to share the dorm with them. Gets me out of answering the kind of questions they would ask in private."

Rohan nodded. "True. Classes been going alright?" He asked next.

She nodded.

"Are they stressful?"

She shrugged.

"They would be, even without what happened."

Rohan looked at the desk for a second before he asked, glancing back up at Jessica. "Are you up to talking about what happened on Christmas Day?"

She looked away, concentrating on what she had planned. She forced herself to cry. When she got a sniff ready, she glanced at Rohan before looking to the ground. "Not really," she said in a small voice. It was hard to act at hiding crying while, in actuality, you were pretending to cry and trying to make sure the other person noticed it. Rohan gave a hefty sigh before getting up. "Okay," he said before pushing himself to his feet. "You pass for today, Jessica. I'll see you in a week," he said. Jessica looked at him curiously. He seemed mad.

He left without looking at her.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

Riley was walking up the stairs to Dumbledore's office when he ran into Rohan Figg. Riley knew Rohan from when Rohan had lived with the Dark Operators in America for a few weeks as part of his training. Riley had gotten to know Rohan pretty good during that time and had learned to respect and like the young Healer.

"Hello, Rohan," Riley greeted.

Instead of a similar return greeting, Rohan stopped and looked at him. "Riley Haderson. You're not here to see Jessica Ziners, are you?"  
Riley didn't respond.

Rohan, use to the techniques of Aurors, rubbed his eyes and walked past Riley. "Walk with me a bit," he said.

Riley caught up with him and matched his stride.

"She's playing games now. I was just in with her for her weekly meeting. I asked her if she was willing to talk to me about Christmas Day."

"And what did she say?" Riley asked when Rohan didn't continue.

"Started to cry."

"And you think she's playing games?" Riley asked quietly, a slight edge of annoyance entering his voice.

Rohan gave him an unamused half grin. "The fact that the crying was a put-on was what gave her away. She was pretending to cry and pretending to hide her pretend crying. I knew it was a set-up when she checked to see if I was looking. The real Jessica, I imagine, wouldn't have looked at me at all. She wouldn't have wanted anyone to know that she had been crying."

Riley shrugged.

"So," Rohan continued, stopping and looking at Riley. "I don't want you talking to her tonight."

"Look, Rohan, I've known Jesse since she was born. She knows not to play games with me."

"Riley, with you, the crying won't be a game. You'll push her, not just because of your investigation, but because of the mere fact you know her. You'll walk away hurt, and she'll walk away with a lot more."

"What do you mean, 'a lot more'?"

"Jessica's in a state of unpredictability right now. I don't know what I mean by 'a lot more' except that none of the people who care about Jessica will like it."

Riley looked away in frustration. "Rohan," he said, his brown eyes coming back to him. "You know as well as I do, I need to talk to her sooner rather than later. Otherwise, she will start to either lose the detail in her memory or find the time to change the parts of the story that don't suite her."

"Personal opinion here, Haderson, but I think the part of the story that doesn't suite her is impossible to change."

Riley didn't respond.

"As her Healer, Riley," Rohan continued, "I'm telling you to give her some more time." When the Auror looked away angrily, Rohan stopped and turned to him. "If you don't, Riley, you may _never_ hear her side of the story."

The Auror gave him a curious look, his features still tense with anger.

"If it suits her purposes, Riley, she may lapse into a silence and take the story of Christmas Day, 1972, to her grave," Rohan explained before heading to Dumbledore's office, never looking back.

xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx

"She seems sad."

Gary didn't comment.

"Why is that, Gary?" Stephen asked, not up for Gary's games today.

"Why do you insist that I know what every Slytherin thinks?" Gary threw a glare at Stephen. The two were sitting at the teacher's table in the Great Hall eating lunch.

"You know _how_ they think," Stephen said, fairing rather well under Gary's glare.

"They think like teenagers," Gary replied, looking back over the crowd of students. "Some happy, same unhappy, none predictable."

"You know Jessica Ziners better than most. She seems sad."

"She's dealing with a lot right now. She's depressed, just as any Gryffindor would be," he replied.

"But, again, you do know Miss Ziners the best."

"In the time I've known Miss Ziners," Gary said, "the only thing I've discovered is that no one will ever be able to figure out what goes on in that temperamental head of hers."

Stephen glanced at Gary but chose to remain silent for some time. When he spoke, it was so quiet that Gary almost didn't hear.

"Then how can you be so sure she's on our side?"  
Gary glanced at Stephen to see that the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was looking at him. Gary looked away and over the crowd of students again. "Miss Ziners is a good soul amongst a crowd of dark, greedy souls. She is struggling against something that's been bred into her by people she's known all her life. It's all she's ever known. And unless you grew up in that kind of environment, you have no idea of the power it holds on you. Miss Ziners is tired of it right now, and she wants nothing more than to give up. But she's not going to because a part of her, a part she's trying to ignore right now, a small but still strong part of her is telling her she has to persevere because there are people waiting on the other side for her that need her as much as she needs them."

Gary stood up to take his leave, but Stephen's voice stopped him. "But you didn't answer my question."

Gary paused a moment before looking down at Stephen.

"Surely you know the answer to that, Stephen."

He slowly shook his head.

"Hope, Stephen. Hope."

With that, Gary started to leave.

"We can't run our lives on the hope of another's actions."

Stephen's words effectively stopped the Potions Master. He turned to Stephen. "You are more of a Slytherin than you think you are, Mr. Medley," he said quietly.

"No, I'm a realist. Slytherins live in a fantasy world."

Stephen knew that he had touched a nerve when Gary started to approach him again. The only teachers still at the table – McGonagall and Flitwick – were down at the other end. They had stopped though now to watch Stephen and Gary.

"Tell me, Stephen, is it fun living in a world where the Ministry's laws mean something and your parents don't care if you become an Auror or a teacher or any of those other professions you good people go into? Is it fun living in a world where you don't usually witness a crime until you're a teenager at least and your parents don't idolize and scheme up ways to follow or free those that the rest of the magical world fears?

"Slytherins and others like them don't live in a fantasy world, you annoying little gnome. They live in a reality the likes of which you have no perception of."

Gary backed off. "Go back to your little world, Stephen, and stay out of mine." With a swoosh of his robes, Gary turned and left the Great Hall.

To be continued…

The chapter finished off within a week of the beginning of school.

Teaser:

Chapter 10 is entitled "Choices". Someone surprising speaks to Jessica, but will it be enough to convince her she can still make it through her childhood alive and on the side of light?


	10. Choices

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura

**Chapter 10: Choices**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author Notes:**

Goal One: Get Chapter 10 out by the end of January – Check – one of my betas' fault that I was late in getting it out

Goal Two: Get Chapter 11 out by the end of February – In Progress

Now that the semester from Hell has finished, and I have began a semester where there are no foreseeable term papers, and I get to read the Lord of the Ring series as homework, we shall hope that I get back to the chapter a month schedule.

And now unto a short but necessary character list:

**Secretary Raimy:** A former Secretary of Magic for the Department of Magic in America. Unimportant to the storyline (as of right now at least).

**Sir Nicholas:** Just a reminder here actually. This is a reference to Nearly Headless Nick, who's living name was Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington.

**Tatianna Melovic:** Newly introduced in this chapter. You'll figure out who she is.

Go to the website: www dot geocities dot com/bch035

Now have fun…

"This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live."

Omar Bradley

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Jessica slipped into something of a routine for classes. People gave her a wide berth after she ran out of dinner that first night. They didn't really talk to her at all, and that annoyed Jessica almost even more. Nothing was right.

And nothing would ever be right again, Jessica thought with a sigh.

The teachers initially gave her a wide berth as well. They left her to her own devices, never calling on or expecting anything from her. She didn't even act up.

The only place where things seemed to be mostly normal were in the intense Quidditch practices that Jeff was holding to prepare the team for the Ravenclaw match at the end of the month.

Jessica had started meeting with someone regularly Wednesday afternoons, an hour before Quidditch practice. It was a different Healer each week. She placated them every time. _I feel sad about Dad. I regret it. I'm trying to come to terms with it. Yes, he abused me. I was scared._ She mentally rolled her eyes. She did regret it however. And he did abuse them. And she had been scared, if only for Casey. But she wasn't the kind to want to "talk about it".

She always stopped short with telling the Healer why she and Casey had kept silent on the issue. She knew that they wanted to know, but they never asked her. She was going to wait to cross that bridge when she got there.

It wasn't until the third week back that the routine of classes, Quidditch, and weekly meetings changed. Jessica couldn't even exactly point out what it was that changed. She just knew when it did.

They were suppose to be changing rabbits into slippers. Jessica watched on as Narcissa worked on this feat. She hadn't been successful by the time that McGonagall walked up. McGonagall worked with her for a bit, finally helping her achieve it after only two or three minutes. McGonagall then looked over at Jessica, who still remained seated. She sighed as she just stared at Jessica.

What does she expect me to do, Jessica mused to herself. Use the wandless magic she doesn't know I have. No matter, if she even knew, Jessica couldn't perform the complex change with her rather weak wandless magic.

Finally, McGonagall asked, "Miss Ziners, what is the incantation for this spell?"

Jessica pronounced it clearly.

McGonagall nodded. "Can you please demonstrate as though you did have your wand?"

Jessica pictured herself pretending that her finger was her wand and bit back a cringe. Even though her wandless magic would not work, some magic would still happen. Then Jessica refigured the demonstration. _As though you did have your wand…_

Jessica stood up and acted as though she were gripping a real wand. She moved her wrist as though she were going to change Narcissa's rabbits.

McGonagall smiled and nodded. "Very good, Miss Ziners."

Jessica smiled back.

McGonagall went to move on down the line when she saw something. "Mr. Snape, please pay attention to your own work and not Miss Ziners."

The class erupted into snickers as Jessica swung around to catch a very red Severus jerking his eyes back to the rabbit slippers sitting in front of him. Jessica smiled to herself.

"I think he likes you," Narcissa whispered when McGonagall was a distance away.

"Me? Nah," Jessica dismissed. "I'm not…his type."

"And what, pray tell, is his type?" Narcissa asked with a giggle.

Jessica shrugged. "Some proper English chit. I'm a loud and obnoxious American. Not to mention the fact that I'll be put on trial for murder in a few months."

Narcissa shrugged and glanced behind them again. She burst into giggles. "He's staring again," she whispered.

This time, Jessica turned red as well.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

_Dear Lily,_

_ I'm sorry. I hadn't even given a thought to your father's business. I'll speak with Uncle Danny about it (he's in charge of our inheritance until we are of age). If your dad can wait until after things settle down with me, I'm sure Uncle Danny will work out an investment deal with him using our money._

_ Don't worry yourself about what was happening and what I did because of it. It's my mess to deal with alone. I don't want you to worry. No matter what happens, I want you to know that I'll always be friends with you. No matter where I am, I'm your friend._

_ Yes, I'll be playing in the Quidditch Match. All I need is a school governor to supervise, and Malcolm Black has already volunteered. As long as I don't do anything overly violent between now and then (and during the game), I'll be fine._

_ Your Friend,_

_ Jess_

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"I can't believe Dad's helping."

"I know, Sarah," Sirius said.

"She's a murderer. She's just like one of them."

"Despite what you say, James," Sirius added with a significant look in James' direction.

James rolled his eyes and buried his nose further in his Transfiguration textbook.

"What do you say, James?"

This caused James to pull his nose out of his book for the first time in an hour. Not because of the question, but because of who asked. Lily Evans.

"I say that Ziners ain't a murderer because Ziners was in a bad situation, and Sirius knows that," he responded before sticking his nose back in his book.

"So, it's true," Marlene McKinnon said as she and Dorcas Meadows butted in on the conversation.

"What's true?" Fabian Prewett asked as he walked up to their table. "And what are you guys fighting about anyway?"  
"None of your—" James started to say before Sirius interrupted him.

"We're fighting over whether Ziners is a murderer or not. Potter here thinks not."

"_We're_," Dorcas said, with a roll of the eyes directed at Sirius, "asking if it's true."

"If what's true?" Fabian asked again.

"If Ziners was getting abused," Marlene said impatiently before looking at James again. "Was she? And don't say you don't know because I heard that your dad was going to get her and her brother out of their home the day she murdered their dad."

"It's none of your business, guys," James said, shutting his book angrily. "I'm going to go out for a bit. Don't wait up for me," James said, grabbing his bag and walking out of the Gryffindor Common Room without looking at anyone.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Casey had just finished supper and started looking at his Potions textbook when he heard the door open and shut. Casey looked up and waited to hear a voice or see a person to identify the intruder, but he neither saw nor heard anyone. This made him nervous when he heard a chuckle.

Suddenly, out of thin air, James Potter appeared.

Casey grinned. "Cool," he said quietly.

"Where's Pomfrey?" James asked quietly.

Casey nodded towards the closed door at the end of the ward. "In her office. She won't hear us if we talk quietly."

James nodded and pulled up a chair to the side of Casey's bed. The 12-year old sat with a silent thud.

Casey held out his hand. "Got to let me see it."

James smirked as he handed over the Invisibility Cloak. "You can't _see_ it, dork."

Casey rolled his hands as James laughed quietly. Casey examined the cloak as James explained. "My dad got it for me for my 11th birthday. He, of course, got me something else, something Mom wouldn't get mad at. Then, he took me outside and gave me this and told me not to tell Mom."

Casey laughed.

"You doing alright?" James asked, taking the cloak back from Casey.

Casey nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Alright, I suppose. I'm still having memory lapses. Mr. Figg thinks that might be permanent. I also have moments where I sort of lose my ability to think, but they pass as quickly as they come. I'm starting to walk too. Well, stand mainly, but I'm getting there. I also have this grey hair." Casey pointed it out. "Isn't it cool?"

James grinned and nodded.

"Why are you down here, anyway?"

James shrugged. "No reason really."

The two were silent for a second before Casey asked, "What are they saying in Gryffindor tower about us?"

"Nothing," James lied as he became _very interested_ in the edge of the blanket that lay flat on James' side of the bed.

Casey rolled his eyes. "I know they're saying something, James."  
He shrugged, still avoiding Casey's eyes. "A little here and there."

"None of it good?" He asked.

James shook his head. "Not from anybody but Lily, but hey," James finally looked back at Casey, "that's the Gryffindor-Slytherin feud for you."

Casey nodded.

"How's Jessica?" James asked.

Casey shook his head, he the one this time avoiding eye contact. "Not good."

"No one is doing good lately, are they?"

Casey shook his head.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"We have to figure things out, Jess," Casey said. "We have to figure out what we're going to say, what we're going to do. Figg wants to know things. I imagine Riley's in the wings, waiting for our story. Then there's the rest of the world. It happened, Jess. We can't change it. We just have to deal with it now."

"I'll just tell them the truth," Jessica said resolutely.

"What? That you _murdered_ Dad? Then what, Jess? Have you thought past this grand scheme of being better than," Casey glanced nervously at the door to Pomfrey's office, "than you-know-who? You go to Azkaban, and here I am, _all alone_. _All alone_ with you-know-who. All because you had to better than him."

"What's better, Casey? That I turn into what…you-know-who," she made a mockery of Casey's nickname for Tom, "wants? Or that I go to Azkaban and give you a chance?"

"That you give yourself a chance, Jessica," Casey growled before laying and turning his head towards the side away from Jessica. "Jessica," he murmured as he faced away from his sister, not so oblivious of her eyes on his back, "Mom died knowing that it was our choices and how we dealt with our choices that made us who we truly were in life. Wake me up when you realize it."

"But—"

"A mistake, Jessica. A well-intentioned, necessary in life, mistake. That's all it was. And if it had not occurred, we wouldn't be having this conversation now."

"Casey—"

"Wake me up when you realize what Mom died knowing."

Jessica looked at her brother's back for awhile longer before getting up and leaving the Hospital Ward.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"How's the search for Voldemort?" Riley Haderson asked, leaning against the doorframe of Marcus' office.

"Excuse me," Marcus heard before he answered Riley. Riley started to turn before he jumped and yelped. He backed away quickly to allow Moody in. Riley looked half terrified as he looked at Moody in quiet awe.

"What's this, Potter?" Moody growled as he gestured towards the now silent Riley.

"Riley, come in," Marcus said with a smirk. When the boy didn't react, Marcus said it louder, "Riley!" Finally, Riley jerked out of his state and walked all the way in, shutting the door behind him. He never once took his eyes from Moody.

"Shake your head, boy," Moody growled, "before your eyes get stuck."

Finally Riley looked away. "This is…this is…" he tried to tell Marcus.

"Alastor Moody," Marcus filled in with a grin.

"And this is?" Moody asked, looking at Marcus but gesturing towards Riley.

"This is Riley Haderson, Daniel Montgomery's commander."

Moody gave him a suspicious look. "I've heard about you."

"Y-y-you have?" Riley stuttered.

Marcus had to take a big sip of tea to keep from laughing.

"What in the hell is wrong with the boy, Potter?"

Marcus sputtered tea into his cup. He pulled the cup away. "It's called worship, Alastor. The kid's been trampling on Aurors' feet, especially Daniel's, since he was 13. He knows _everyone_. Every Auror, every legend, everything."

Alastor rolled his eyes. "The question is, how good did the boy come modeling himself after his so-called heroes."

"One of the best, and he didn't model himself after anybody."

Riley, who had finally snapped out of it, nodded. "Thank you, Marcus."

Marcus gave him a look. "That wasn't entirely a compliment. Your teacher was Daniel Montgomery after all."

Riley gave him an amused, challenging look. "I'm telling Danny you said that."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Like I'm afraid of _that_ guy."

"And I'm telling him you said that too."

"What are you here for, boy?" Alastor asked, finally letting his annoyance at the play between the Aurors show.

Riley started to speak then cast an uncertain look at Alastor.

"He's been helping me on the Rin murder case and now the Voldemort case."

"Danny asked me to check on the Voldemort search. Also, if you're willing to divulge a little info on the Rin murder case, Danny said he would ever so graciously listen to it."

"How gracious of him," Marcus murmured as he scanned the memos from his 'in' box.

"What level of security does the boy have?" Alastor growled, glaring at Marcus.

Marcus looked at Moody over the top of his glasses. "The highest. Andorra Dumbledore trusts him."

Moody's suspicion was still there in its ever-present form, but his objections ceased. The only name with more weight in the Auror world than Andorra Dumbledore's was Albus Dumbledore.

To Riley, Marcus said, "We've linked Rin's murder to Voldemort."

Riley swallowed at that news before asking, "How strong is the evidence?"

Marcus sighed as he put the memo he was currently holding down on to his desk. He leaned back in his chair. "Nothing that would hold up in a court but would hold up for an Auror."

Riley nodded, understanding the evidence was either illegally obtained or obtained from someone who would never go to trial to act as a witness.

"How did Voldemort get in the Ministry, especially into the area with the Minister's office?"

"It could be Malfoy," Moody suddenly interjected.

Marcus shook his head. "Malfoy's a bad seed, but I don't think he's Voldemort. The only connection to Rin's murder he has is that he either did it on Voldemort's behalf or he let Voldemort into the building, neither of which I can currently prove.

"For now, I don't want Malfoy to think I'm suspecting anything more than I'm already obviously suspect."

"You think Malfoy knows you're suspicious of him?" Riley asked.

Marcus chuckled. "I don't need Voldemort to be suspicious of a Malfoy. No one needs a Voldemort to be suspicious of that lot."

Riley nodded.

"Either way, I don't think we're going to be able to say who Rin's murderer is until we figure out who this Voldemort is."

"Any new leads on Voldemort?" Riley asked as someone knocked on the door.

Marcus nodded towards the door. "Riley, can you get that?"  
Riley opened the door a bit to peak who was outside. A second later, he opened the door wide to let Tom Riddle in. Tom gave a surprised look at the number of people in the office.

Once the door was shut behind Tom, he commented. "Marcus, you're making too many friends."

Marcus smiled. "Tom, I believe you know Alastor Moody."

Tom nodded.

"Riley, I don't know if you've met Tom…" Marcus trailed off as Riley nodded.

"Yeah, we've met before. He visited Jeffrey Ziners occasionally. I believe," Riley looked at Tom, "that you and Jeffrey went to school together."

Tom nodded as a feint sad look came to his face. "Yes, we had. It is a very sad thing that happened to him."

Riley nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is," he replied quietly before turning to Marcus.

"Is Tom privy to the particular case we were discussing a moment ago?"  
Marcus nodded. "He's been working rather heavily on it."  
Riley threw Tom an acknowledgement before turning to Marcus to ask again, "Any new leads on Voldemort yet?"

Marcus shook his head. "No, unfortunately not. How about at your end?"

Riley shook his head. "Not too much, I'm afraid."

Tom's ears perked up, "Nothing?"

Riley stalled for a second before frowning and shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Are you sure?" This time, it was Marcus piping up. He wondered about the kid's stall and feared that Danny might be keeping something from him. Danny was so use to having to keep the Dark Operators a secret, secrecy became a habit.

"Not on the Voldemort case," Riley answered. "Nothing new."

A carefully framed answer, Marcus thought to himself.

"Anyway," Riley said, "I've got to be heading out. I've got a few owls to answer before I run an errand for Danny."

"How is Jessica Ziners doing anyway?" Marcus asked.

"Haven't seen her yet," Riley said. "Rohan won't let me at her. Said after the last time I talked to her, she became quieter than ever."

"You still haven't talked to her about what happened on Christmas?" Marcus asked in surprise.

Riley took a deep breath but shook his head. "Nope. I have a pretty good idea what happened, but there are two questions I haven't answered totally. I'm pretty sure Jess has those answers."

"The longer you wait, the more the answer will change," Alastor said.

"I'm not waiting," Riley said. "I'm not allowed to get near Jessica. Short of breaking into the Hospital Ward of Hogwarts, I'm not going to be near her for awhile. Rohan's tried to ask her, he says, but she won't talk. He thinks she's playacting and all this stuff, stalling until she finds the answer she wants to give." Riley shrugged. "I'll get in there eventually. Anyway, got to run."

They all said bye to Riley. When the three turned back to each other, Marcus saw an unexplainable grin pass on Tom's face.

"What is it?" Marcus asked him.

"What? Oh," Tom shook his head, "nothing. Just the boy's determination is amusing."

Marcus nodded and ignored his unsettled feeling at Tom. Tom was just a bit creepy. That's what made him good, Marcus reminded himself. That's what made him good at what he did.

That's what made him _very_ good.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"She's merely going through the motions. Worse than since the start of school."

Gary turned when Jeff Rin spoke. The boy stood next to him as they watched the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team walk up to the castle. Jessica dragged along behind, tired and depressed. The Slytherins had lost miserably, and the rest of the team wasn't speaking to her right now.

"It was before the game," Jeff continued when he saw he had Gary's attention. "I think it started after she got back from visiting her brother last night."

Gary gave the tall, young man a side look. Gary has also seen Jessica leaving her brother and the Hospital Ward the previous night. She had left around two a.m. "What were you doing up at two in the morning?"

Jeff returned the look. "More importantly, what were _you_ doing up at two in the morning?" Jeff's grin gave him away at the end, and Gary merely shook his head as Jeff chuckled.

"Anyway, I think something happened between her and her brother. They probably had some words." Jeff sighed. "I like Casey. He's got a good head on his shoulders for being a little kid. He was probably trying to talk some sense into Jessica for something."

Gary gave a noncommittal nod.

Jeff shrugged again before saying to Gary before they parted ways, "I wish I knew, or someone at least knew, what to say to her to make her feel better."

Jeff didn't hear Gary's response.

"I wish someone did too."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Jessica looked up from her feet when she felt someone looking at her. She looked up to see the Bloody Baron hovering above her. She sat and stared at the ghost, he merely returning her gaze with his dead eyes. They were in her room, Jessica sitting on the floor next to the end of her bed, her knees pulled loosely up to her stomach, her arms loosely wrapped around them, her hands loosely holding each other. It was the night of the Quidditch game, the one she had blown. She and her brother weren't speaking to each other. Before last night, she had visited morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, late-afternoon, early evening, supper, and at night. She hadn't seen Casey since last night however.

And now the Bloody Baron was hovering in her room, looking at her.

The Bloody Baron, Slytherin's house ghost, usually avoided everybody, including the Slytherins. His usual only exceptions were to mumble about the other houses to the Slytherin House students.

She was content right now to stare at the Bloody Baron. He was looking straight back at her, straight into her eyes, not even seeming fascinated when they changed from their sad green-blue to their defeated blue.

"You are a disgrace to the house of Slytherin," the Bloody Baron finally said.

"You speak," she said in mock shock.

"Did you not hear me, silly girl?"

Jessica finally looked away. "Yes, I did. I am a disgrace to the house of Slytherin." She rubbed one eye. "Tell me something I don't know."

"It is not because you cannot become what this 'you-know-who' wants you to become."

Jessica looked back at the Bloody Baron. "You were eavesdropping," she accused. That was the same way Casey had referred to Tom in the Hospital Ward.

"You are a dumb little girl too," he said as he huffed and moved away to cast a disapproving look around her messy room.

"Okay, I give up," she said in mock surrender. "Why do _you_ think I'm a disgrace to the house of Slytherin?"

"You take a blow and fall like a Gryffindor," he responded, his back to her. When she snorted in amusement, he spun to her. "A _true_ Slytherin would have taken the blow and come back up fighting. A _true_ Slytherin would have turned the situation to their benefit, even if they didn't like it in the first place."

"Hey, I did something. I turned the situation, and it didn't work out right. It's my fault, so I'm rising to deal with the situation. If Casey comes out of this situation intact, I did turn it the direction I wanted it to go."

"Oh, save this sacrificial lamb bit for Sir Nicholas. That's what a Gryffindor would do."

"What do you want me to do!" She yelled at the ghost. "Be a true Slytherin. Follow you-know-who like I was meant to?"

The Bloody Baron rolled his eyes as he started floating around the room again. "Why does everyone assume we Slytherins are all pure evil at heart? I will tell you what, Miss Ziners," the ghost looked back at her and pointed at her before pointing at himself, "I was at the top of my class. Nothing and no one could stop me from being the best. But I wasn't evil. I died defending a dreaded Gryffindor and a dumb Muggle."

"Merely died?" Jessica snorted in amusement. "You look like you were slaughtered."

The Bloody Baron shrugged as though the matter meant little. "We Slytherins do not go down lightly." He had been turning away from her, but suddenly swung back to face her, pointing his pudgy finger at her once again. "This brings me back to my point. We Slytherins do not lie down and let the opponent trample over us. As long as there is strength enough to breathe even the lightest breath, we fight."

"I'm not going down lightly," Jessica said, her voice rising with each sentence she spoke, her body following the rise until she was standing and approaching the Bloody Baron, her finger pointing at him the entire time. "I've protected Casey for 11 years. I've had to learn spells I shouldn't know. I've had to practice words I shouldn't ever have had to say. After every beating, I didn't stop my practice. I kept going. I went to school. I smiled and laughed when I was suppose to. I yelled and demanded when it was required of me. I was quiet when I was told to be so. And I performed the spells they asked of me. No matter how much they demanded of me to look at them as my masters, I did not. I kept practicing. Then the day when I knew he was going to finally take Casey, I advanced on him and did not stop when it was required of me or when he tried to beat me into submission. When I recovered from being unconscious, I got right back up and called my wand. And I said the words. I killed my father despite my wounds or Casey's. What more do you expect of me!"

"I hear what's said in here. I know of the presence you speak of. I know your father was not that presence. You have more to go, Miss Ziners." When she didn't respond, he continued.

"You were born in the type of family that so populates the House of Slytherin, a family where little choice is offered. What sets the great Slytherins apart is when they don't follow the crowd, but their mind. It's not the wish of a decision, but the action of it."

This time she did respond and when she did, her voice was hoarse. "I made my decision, and I acted with it. It was wrong, and now I have no choice but to follow with my determination to protect the heirs and take their names to the grave with me. Unfortunately, that will happen sooner rather than later."

"With the death of your father, did you not prove to you-know-who that you are willing to fight for your freedom?"

"No, it proved that I was stupid enough not to know a better deal when I saw it. If I hadn't killed Dad, I would be dealing with an evil which I know how to deal with it."

"That may be partly true, Miss Ziners. The devil you know is usually better than the devil you don't. But Miss Ziners, it is not the exact action you took that should contain your focus. A true Slytherin does not live in the past and past decisions as others do. We live for the decision. It is not where we are, but where we can be. It is not what we have done, but what we can do. You made the decision, now what are you going to do about it?

"Slytherins do not make mistakes. We merely make different opportunities. It's the same chess board. The pieces are merely moved, one bishop dead. You are an exposed piece right now. An exposed piece is at great risk, yes, but, as the saying goes, with great risk comes great reward. As an exposed piece, you are at great risk, but, here, you can also do the most damage.

"You know things, Miss Ziners, things, I believe, I cannot even imagine. You cannot speak your knowledge to authorities because, as a Slytherin, we live under a different law, but there are things, Miss Ziners, many things, you can do. Your piece is under great threat, but you are not yet checkmated, my dear girl. You are a great threat to this Voldemort, but until now you've been sheltered by the other pieces. In one move, you eliminated Voldemort's bishop. You are under threat, but in this position, you are also a threat. You have never been such a threat before, Miss Ziners, and if I were to venture a guess, it would be that Voldemort is unsure of where he stands on your board. He is unsure, and he is watching you, waiting for your next move. The next move is yours to make."

The Bloody Baron finally paused and looked at Jessica, but her head and her eyes were off to the side now, the Bloody Baron's surprising words – the action of speech itself coupled with the actual speech – finally creeping through a hole in Jessica's stubborn 'in-the-box' logic. Unknown to Jessica, the ghost watched her carefully, waiting for that perfect moment to get her attention again.

The Bloody Baron knew it came when her face slowly turned back up to his.

"You're only given to a fate when you hand yourself over to it. If you give yourself over to Azkaban, then failure will become your fate. If you give yourself over to Voldemort and do his bidding, then he is your fate. If you fight for what you want, if you fight for it until your very last breath, then your fate is to be Jessica Ziners, no more, no less.

"You already acted. You can't change that no matter how hard you think about it. A Gryffindor would wallow in that. A true Slytherin thinks how to turn that past action to his advantage.

"So are you a follower of Voldemort, a whiny Gryffindor, or a powerful and true Slytherin? The choice belongs to no one but you, Miss Ziners, and if you believe that you are truly a Slytherin, not even this powerful Voldemort can take away your ability to choose who you are."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

It was midnight at McKiney's Pub. McKiney's pub was located in a London back alley and only served the bottom of the barrel of both the magic and the Muggle worlds.

When the elderly man walked in, his appearance drew no one's attention, and that was the way he preferred it. He was a hunched over old man and barely stood on his own two feet with a cane; his body was covered with a cape and his head, the cape's hood. Coming out of his hood was a face more wrinkles than it was features and grey hair long, stringy, and so grotesque-looking that it didn't even look like real hair but more like some monster that had died on the man's head.

Many in McKiney's Pub knew of him. He was Old Man Kippen, a left over from the Grindelwald era. He was ancient even then, people said, but he was one of the fiercest killers. He was such a unique and dangerous weapon that Grindelwald had kept him very close and very hidden, even from the members of his closest circle. This was so Kippen could kill those members easily if Grindelwald feared their betrayal. It was also so potential traitors could not identify him. The Muggle pond scum in McKiney's Pub also knew of him. He had once been a fierce killer in their world as well, rumor was, and though he was old, they still feared him. Little did they know that their fear wasn't completely groundless.

Current rumor was that Kippen was looking for a way to kill Albus Dumbledore, wanting to avenge the death of his master. No one quite knew where he stood on this Voldemort character however. There were rumors that Voldemort's people were trying to recruit Kippen but because of his demand for complete secrecy, no one knew for sure.

This night, Kippen went straight to a dark back, corner booth. Two men were sitting there. Kippen merely looked at them. The two men quickly moved. Both were Muggles and knew nothing of Kippen's magic ties, but their boss did, and the men feared their boss a great deal as well as this legendary Kippen. Their boss, even though he was a mere Muggle, was powerful and smart. He knew if he protected the killers, the less likely he would be killed.

The men stood and pushed open the hidden door. Kippen was quickly let into the "Muggle Back Room". Kippen hobbled his way to another dark back, corner booth. The two in the back corner, a man and a woman this time, were smaller than the previous guards, but their magic made up for their lack of size. Kippen was even more quickly let into this secret back door. It led to the "Magic Back Room".

As Kippen headed to the opposite back corner, a bar maid rushed to the bar to get Kippen's usual drink. By the time Kippen had made his way to his destination, the bar maid had nervously laid his drink on the table. Kippen dismissed her angrily. The man across from him grinned. "You have yet to lose your touch, Mr. Kippen."

"I will never lose my touch, you sniveling little gnome." Kippen sighed. "The truth is, McGregor, magic is the most brilliant thing in the world. No matter how old you are, the magic is still strong."

"Like with Albus Dumbledore."

Kippen moved his hand so angrily that his own drink glass broke, McGregor's glass broke, and the two glasses at the booth behind them both broke as well. "You do not mention that terrible name here! I'm going!" Kippen grunted as he started to wobbly stand up.

McGregor put up a staying hand. "No, no, don't go. I'm sorry, Mr. Kippen. I will never speak that terrible name again. You are infinitely better and stronger and smarter than that Muggle loving half-blood."

Kippen sat back down. "Unfortunately, he is not a half-blood. Just a half-blood loving bastard."

McGregor quickly nodded in agreement. "I don't get why anyone follows that bastard. They should follow you."

Kippen growled. "Don't kiss up, you gnome." He glanced at the bar to see that the bar maid was already at their table with their new drinks. She scurried away again after setting them down. McGregor looked around for himself to make sure that they were safe. He knew that Kippen already knew who and what was around them. He had already checked that, even if McGregor hadn't seen him do it. But the man would get angry if McGregor didn't check. And McGregor couldn't afford angering the man again. Who knew if he would run off permanently this time?

"Ruthford Street in Manchester," McGregor finally said. "Thomas O'Linny's house. There is a meeting there at 5 p.m. April 3rd. Afterwards, we will attack The Leaky Cauldron in London at midnight that same night."

"Is your boss going to be there?"

McGregor shook his head. "No. He doesn't even know about it. It's a birthday present per say to him. But it's not his birthday. At least I don't think so. I don't actually know."

Kippen nodded.

"Are you going to be there?" McGregor asked.

Kippen shrugged noncommittally. "If I feel like it." Kippen took a drink, dribbling down his chin as he did so. McGregor had done well so far on not cringing at Kippen's ugly face, but this made him cringe…a little. The man's face was positively disgusting looking. Kippen then slowly wobbled to his standing position. He was about to leave when he turned and said to McGregor in a growl, "And be careful about who you recruit boy. The sloppy way you tried to recruit me thinks that you are sloppy with everyone else. The way you go, you might recruit the other side. I don't want a part of that if that's the way you do business."

McGregor quickly shook his head. "I assure you, Sir, if I did this bad with you, it was an accident. My boss trusts me with a lot of other things."

Kippen snorted in disbelief as he turned and left the same way he came in.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Old Man Kippen walked straight to Bryant Road after his annoying meeting with that little gnome McGregor. It wasn't going to be long, and that boy was going to get himself killed. Kippen gave it until one a.m.. He thought it was going to be a lot longer before the meeting, but he knew when he had looked at the two in the booth behind them. He had recognized one of them as one of Voldemort's actual trusted servants. They were tailing McGregor. Kippen smiled to himself as he Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. He nodded at the man behind the bar before heading up to his room.

It was an hour later when Riley Haderson walked out of the Leaky Cauldron and headed back to his hotel room. He laughed quietly to himself. He was definitely better looking than his alter ego Kippen. But, he did have to admit, Kippen was more effective at being an Auror than he was himself.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Jessica thought deep into the night about the Bloody Baron's words. Choice. It was a funny word, this 'choice'. It was probably the most powerful ability in the world, even over magic, she thought.

The Bloody Baron had said that everyone makes mistakes. But Slytherins. She had to smile at that, but she frowned but a second later as she remembered what the Bloody Baron had said what they made instead. Different opportunities.

Choice. Different opportunities. Casey had told her it was our choices that made us who we really are. She chose to kill. But as the Slytherin ghost had said, it was what she did with the consequences that mattered. It was what she did with these "different opportunities" that mattered now.

But Jessica wasn't sure she was strong enough. After all, there was a difference between 12-year old kids and ancient, cranky Potion Masters that had lived through it all before. Gary had once said no to the same thing Jessica wanted to say no to, but he had been 18 when he had said it.

The pieces were different, in different places. Slytherins live under different laws. Choice. Choice. Choice. Talking to anyone about what she knew was out of the question. It was up to her. It was up to Jessica to help those fighting against Voldemort fight Voldemort in a way they couldn't even began to imagine. It was all up to Jessica now. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but if she planned to go that way, she would have to figure it out. Because she had a feeling fighting Voldemort as a member of his own side wasn't going to be the easiest task she ever undertook.

But was she willing to pay a price?

Jessica needed to talk to Casey, and she intended to make him talk back even if he didn't want to.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

It was the next afternoon when Jessica drifted to the Hospital Ward. Her feet were silent, and she didn't bother to announce herself right away.

"Rohan said we're going to start walking tomorrow. Actually, we'll probably only get into the standing." Casey shrugged. "Anyway, he thinks I'll be able to walk again, so I'm not going to complain."

The stern Madam Pomfrey gave Casey a soft smile. Jessica guessed his enthusiasm was probably entertaining the nurse. Jessica, on the other hand, was experiencing mixed feelings. One of which sadness because Casey had never told her his good news about walking, though she wasn't sure she should have expected to hear the news considering she hadn't seen nor talked to him for four days now. The other thing, other than the happiness that she felt that her brother would indeed walk again, was that she was worried that her brother had been around Rohan when she had not been present.

"Well, as long as when you start walking you don't go running around my Ward causing havoc, I won't complain," Madam Pomfrey said in mock sternness. Casey laughed.

Madam Pomfrey finished her daily examination of Casey, finishing off by giving him a swallow of a pain relieving potion, before she walked to the bed down the room where a Fourth Year lay sick.

Casey stayed sitting up in his bed for a few minutes, his eyes on his feet, his mouth silent. Finally, he spoke but didn't look up. "Did you need something?"

Jessica had been standing by the end of the pulled curtain on Casey's left side throughout the entire examination, not saying a word. She had been so quiet in her entrance that even Madam Pomfrey hadn't noticed her. She hadn't thought Casey had noticed either, but she knew she probably should have known better.

Jessica looked everywhere but at her brother as she walked forward. "Yeah, I need a lot of things to tell you the truth, one of which is logic. That's why I'm here now."

Casey didn't respond, or even look at her, so she walked forward and sat in the visitor's chair. She looked at her hands as she spoke.

"Someone talked to me, and he made a lot of sense. On top of what you said, it made me wonder some things. But…"

"But what?" Casey asked when she didn't continue. Unknown to Jessica, her brother had finally looked at her, but it was only to see the top of her head.

"But…" Jessica tried again but stopped when she heard Madam Pomfrey walk near.

"Oh, Miss Ziners," Madam Pomfrey said. "I was wondering who was here… Visiting hours end in one hour. Make sure you're done by then. And keep your voices down."

When she walked away, Jessica finally looked at her brother to see him looking at her. Her eyes locked on his, she spoke in his head.

_I'm only 12, Casey. I'm not a match for Tom._

_ Yeah, you are_, Casey insisted. _Tom was 16 when he first put words into actions. You were 12._

_Even if that would make me a match for Tom, I'm not willing to sacrifice you or Uncle Danny or anyone else for that matter._

_You still don't get it, do you, Jess? At this point, it doesn't matter whether or not we want someone to die, be it me, you, Uncle Danny, or Tom. Tom's already set that into motion. The spies during the Grindelwald years said it wasn't a matter of containing Grindelwald but a matter of stopping him._

_But we can't tell who Voldemort is because they wouldn't believe us. Mr. Potter trusts Tom. He would demand pretty hefty evidence. And though Uncle Danny doesn't like Tom, he would demand evidence too. No matter what we do, Tom gets away._

Casey frowned. _I know. But we can't submit to him. And we can't declare defeat. We're the only thing that the other side has against Tom. But what do we do about it?_

Jessica looked away, both her brother and her thinking in complete silence. What could be their evidence against Tom? Jessica wondered. But even if they gave it, Tom would give the order for Uncle Danny, Riley, and Andorra to be murdered. And there were many people in the Ministry, people who would more than likely be present at his arrest, that he could give the order to – and even in such a fashion, no one would really wonder about it until after Uncle Danny, Riley, and Andorra were all dead. And there was the matter that all arrests of higher up Aurors – and working with Marcus Potter made Tom such said Auror – had to be cleared by the Minster of Magic, and Jessica had no doubt that Ignatius Malfoy would alert Tom long before the arrest could be made. (And if Jessica was willing to cover herself in that route, she would not only have to gather evidence against Tom but against Mr. Malfoy as well.) How could they get Tom?

It was when she asked herself this question, this question she had asked herself many times before she came to believe Tom was too powerful for her, it was in that question asked at this present time that Jessica suddenly had her answer.

"He said to me—," she said, but Casey interrupted her.

"Jessica," he whispered harshly.

It took her a second to realize. She grinned sheepishly at him before continuing, but, this time, in their heads. _He said to me—_

_ And he is?_ Casey asked, interrupting her again.

_The Bloody Baron. He's the one I was talking about when I said that someone talked to me and made a lot of sense._

_The Bloody Baron actually had a conversation with you?_ Casey asked in surprise.

Jessica nodded. _But, as I was saying, the Bloody Baron said to me that we Slytherins live by different laws than the rest. Our problem with Tom is that we follow the laws that govern non-Slytherins._

_Yeah, we need to stop doing that, don't we?_ Casey asked with a grin.

The corner of Jessica's mouth went up. _That would be a start._

_Are you okay, Jess?_ Casey asked quietly when Jessica said no more.

Jessica frowned. _Not yet._

_ Are you going to give yourself over to Azkaban?"_

To this, Jessica was silent for some time. Was she ready to give herself over to Azkaban prison? It would stop this. If she did that—or if she killed herself—she wouldn't be available to be a tool of Tom's.

Mom had died knowing that Jessica and her brother were worth saving, that they may have the chance of survival on a side other than Tom's, a chance that she had lost so long before then. But Jessica had murdered her own father. But as the Bloody Baron had said, that wasn't the matter now. That had happened. It was in the past. It was what she would do about it that mattered right now.

And right now, Jessica had a little brother to protect and a magical world to try to help. Because Jessica wasn't ever going to be a regular kid, and it was about time she stopped trying to be a regular kid.

She was born with a blood that dictated her life, but that didn't mean she had a choice about what direction her life could take from here. Now was the time to act like she had a choice that was hers and only hers to make.

_No, I'm not going to give myself over to Azkaban if I can help it. There is always the matter of the trial though and whether or not they're going to give me hard time._

_But we'll get through it, Jess. We've made it too far to stop now._

Jessica chuckled and nodded.

Casey had also smiled but now he frowned. _It's only going to get harder, Jess. All the way to that trial and after, it's only going to get harder for us._

Jessica nodded, a solemn look on her face.

_But we're Slytherins_, she said. _We fight until our very last breath._

Neither kid saw or heard the ghost behind the curtain, so no one noticed the Bloody Baron smile as he drifted out of the Hospital Ward.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"How are they?"

Rohan gave Riley Haderson a look. "And why do you want to know?"

"Because they're my friends."

"No."

"No what?"

"No, you can't see them."

"Why not?" Riley growled.

"Because she's doing something different now, and it's making me more nervous than before," Rohan said as he walked into the blistering cold outside Hogwarts front doors.

"What's she doing now?" Riley asked.

"She's being compliant," he answered, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.

Riley was silent for a moment, pulling his own cloak tighter, shivering a little as he was not use to the cold, before saying, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Rohan stopped and gave Riley a disbelieving look. "Don't pull that bullshit with me. You claim to know her. Is Jessica suddenly being compliant a good thing?"  
"Damit, Rohan. I need to talk to her."

"And I want you to get that information. To have gotten the version of the story you wanted, you should have talked to her the day of the incident, but you know as well as I do, Jessica would not have spoken to anyone. She's so distrusting of anyone that on the day of the incident and the many days afterward, she would not allow me to be alone with her brother any second of any day, despite the fact that the one person I think she trusts in this school – Gary Rum – trusted me to take care of Casey. To tell you the honest truth, I don't think she trusts you any more than she trusts me. And to be even more honest, Riley, I don't even think she trusts Daniel Montgomery any more than either of us.

"If she plans on having the truth come out, it will. If she doesn't intend for the truth to come out, it never will. And I don't think it ever would have, even if you had asked Christmas Day."

"The only problem in your equation, Rohan, is that I know what happened, and if I'm right, Jessica won't just go to jail for murder. She'll go to jail for treason. You can see my anxiety, can't you?"

Suddenly, a large Mottled Owl flew and landed onto Riley's shoulder. The Auror gave the American Department of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement's owl a perturbed look before grabbing the note off its leg. He read over the note with a startled surprise.

"What is it?" Rohan asked, noticing his look.

Riley glanced up at Rohan before giving the bird a treat. The bird flew off. "I'm being summoned back to the States. It seems that we have a new Secretary of Magic."

Rohan raised his eyebrows at that. "How did they do that without any press?"

"Never underestimate Andorra Dumbledore's determination to do something." Riley folded the parchment and placed it in an inner pocket of his cloak. "I've got to get back to the States."

When Riley just walked away without saying another word, Rohan called after him, "I expect you to see me before you talk to the children!"

Riley didn't respond or even stop his gait.

"Do I need to put guards on those kids that don't feel any loyalty to you?" Rohan asked.

Riley never looked back.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

"Tatianna Melovic."

"Sounds Russian."

"It is Russian."

"Sounds like a female."

"It _is_ a female, you moron."

"Then why did you start that sentence off with an 'it'?"

"Nothing like surrounding yourself with the best and the brightest," Daniel murmured. The Dark Operators were sitting around a conference table, waiting for their meeting with the new Secretary of Magic.

"I heard she was old," came another comment, ignoring Daniel's comment.

"Tell me, Riley," Daniel continued, "how is that when we have the highest level of security possible in the Department that we still have rumors at this level?"

"We're humans, not books," Riley said, his eyes on "The Times" as he sipped his coffee. "We're made up of grey matter, not the black and white facts of books."

Every murmur of conversation at the table stopped as everyone looked at Riley blankly. Riley never noticed as his eyes remained on the paper.

"Stop being philosophical at seven in the morning," Daniel finally said.

Riley finally looked up from the paper, and, upon noticing all the eyes in the room on him, he grinned. "Can't help it," he said.

The door slammed open and a very tall older witch said without looking up, "Time is money people. What is this meeting about?"

Andorra, who was following her, gave the Dark Operators a pleading look. They all bit their tongues, which kept their comments back _and_ any greeting. This caused the unknown woman to look up. She looked at the group curiously. They just stared back.

As Andorra turned to seal the door and soundproof the room, she could be heard to murmur on a groan, "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Andorra turned back to the group with a deep breath. "Guys, this is our newly voted in secretary, Tatianna Melovic. Tatianna, this is the Dark Operators."

The Dark Operators took Melovic in. She was tall – probably about six feet – and had thick, wavy salt-and-pepper hair that reached below her waist. Her face was tanned, her cheekbones high, her eyes a piercing dark blue. She was absolutely gorgeous, everyone in the room noticed, with the exception that she exuded her Ice Princess personality in waves. Riley and Daniel exchanged a worried look.

Melovic gave Andorra a look. "Dark Operators?"

"Yes, Dark Operators." Daniel was surprised to see Andorra ring her hands nervously as she spoke. "I said that I would have to explain the next meeting."

"Yes, I would expect no less," Melovic said as she sat down. Andorra went over to the chair next to Melovic but only merely stood behind it.

"The Dark Operators may be a bit hard to explain, so be patient with me.

"After Grindelwald, Secretary Raimy decided that there was a special force needed to deal directly with the underworld, a force not held down by the laws of our magical world, be it in magical society or in magical law. The group is only to be directly questioned by one person."

"The Secretary of Magic," Melovic answered.

_And here was the kicker_, Daniel thought as he waited for Andorra to respond, which she finally did, looking directly at Tatianna.

"The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Melovic started to respond, but, Daniel saw with relief, she was stopped by Andorra's hand. His boss was finally getting herself together.

"The team is carefully chosen. After they accept the invitation to the team, they are given further, careful training. They are constantly observed and watched by the Head of Magical Law Enforcement and a team chosen by the Secretary of Magic. The Dark Operators are allowed to do much, but we do draw the line at the Unforgivable Curses."

Daniel and Riley exchanged another look, both men very successfully fighting grins as the words _liar, liar, pants on fire_ went through both their heads. Neither dared a look at Andorra as she continued, her voice serious and more firm by the second.

"Their actions and missions never have to be checked with the Secretary, and even their arrests don't always have to be reported. The less known about their actions, the more chance we have that the other side does not know that anyone is on to the them."

"I imagine you have already figured out that Jonathon Ziners has informed this Lord Voldemort of who you are."

Before Andorra could speak, Daniel said, "It is true that Jonathon Ziners knew our names, our faces, and our general mission, but that was where it began and ended, the same as it will for you. If we planned on being completely secret from the Ministry, we wouldn't have our base of operations located at the Ministry. But if we did that, what would differentiate ourselves from the bad guys?" Without waiting for answer, Daniel continued.

"After my team's interrogation of Jonathon Ziners and his two accomplices, we have found that yes, this Lord Voldemort does know of our existence, and he knows our names, but when he inquired of our methods of operation, a key piece of information to taking the team down, Jonathon could not speak even a word. No one outside our team and Andorra and the very few trusted members of our supervisory squad know how we work, who does what, whose forte is what, how things get done, when we arrest and when we do other things, how we get our information, or even if we decide to act on certain offenses. No one outside the team and Andorra know if the team member's have a family, who their best friends are, or even if they have a life outside of this team. The only exception to this is me and that's because of my niece and nephew. The only living location commonly known to the Ministry is my location, and that's only commonly known to the higher up Ministry workers. And after what happened, we examined everyone with a fine-toothed comb. Either way, I can't and am not willing to run and hide because this chickenshit who's so powerful he's terrified to use his own name knows _my name_." Daniel wasn't going to add that he left out important factors, like the fact the Dark Operators were three stronger – Daniel telling Josh Benson, Richie Thender, and Feng Chong to stay at home today and avoid the new secretary for as long as humanly possible. Daniel knew that in a perfect world, Tatianna Melovic would never notice the three, but this was not a perfect world and Tatianna Melovic didn't look like someone who missed much. Daniel also didn't add that his team was really much larger than that, contacts everywhere and in places that most Aurors paid their life for. There were some facts better left off. Like when they use the Crucio to get information from the bad guys. There was just some information better left unknown.

"I apologize that this team probably gave you a surprise, but I'm not sorry for what we do. If it weren't for us, Jonathon Ziners would still be the secretary, the Department none the wiser." Daniel's gaze gentled on the new secretary, hoping to have made the point that he would stick by his team no matter what but also hoping to give the impression that he was willing to work a little with the Department itself. He didn't want to burn this bridge before it was built.

Tatianna Melovic looked at him for a very long time before she slowly nodded. "I will take a look at the team before I decide whether or not to keep it. In one week's time, I will put a team together to examine this team's uses, functions, and necessity."

The present team members all piped up. Melovic give them a stern look, and though they stopped soon, it was not the look that deterred them, but Daniel's hand which silenced them. "Either way," Daniel merely said. "Are we dismissed?"

Daniel was thoroughly impressed that Melovic didn't take the bait, though he knew by her look that she had noticed it. He wasn't sure she knew it exactly, but he knew it. Whether they kept the team or not, whether the Dark Operators had the explicit permission of the Department or not…either way, his team was going to do their job.

The team started out the door, but Andorra's voice stopped them. "Riley, if you could stay behind…"

Riley looked at Daniel. Daniel looked at Andorra. She didn't look about to respond to Daniel, but she finally did in a whisper. "It's about Jessica's case."

Daniel didn't look back at Riley as he led the team out. Riley turned to Andorra and Tatianna, his face not showing that Daniel's opinion of him meant the world to him. Andorra had to congratulate the boy.

After the door had been shut and resealed, Andorra turned to Tatianna. "This is Riley Haderson, the lead investigator on the Ziners murder trial."

"An investigator on her uncle's own team," Tatianna said with a forcibly patient grin. "How very inappropriate."

Before Riley had a chance to retort – something Andorra had known he was just about to do, evident by the open mouth – Andorra spoke.

"Now that she has put a name with the face, Riley," Andorra said with a sweet smile Riley's direction, "could you go back to your team now?"

Riley nodded immediately and left.

Andorra turned back to Tatianna, her sweet grin leaving. "And having known the boy all of two seconds, how did your quick brain deduce that?"

Ah, Andorra felt like her old self finally. Andorra had been nervous to introduce the Dark Operators because of their legalities, but now that it came to a defense of her own decisions, she was ready to become the woman that Tatianna had met and had, to Tatianna's own chagrin, been nervously waiting for.

"My quick brain, Miss Dumbledore, can deduce a great many things probably as fast, if not faster, than yours, but that is not the topic of discussion now. If you require as to my reasons for believing the inappropriateness of the assignment of Mr. Haderson to Miss Ziners case, it is by my mere observation of the young man around his team leader. His entire team, for that matter, had the same actions. Utter loyalty, which I do not necessarily see as a bad vice, but here I do see it as problematic."

"Well, I will give you credit for observation, but there is a quality in this situation which you sorely lack. It is not your fault because it is a quality that takes time in one place. It is the quality of knowing the people that work here and understanding how they work. I know that you have not given me the benefit of the doubt before, but I beg of you to give it to me now.

"If there is one thing I know about Riley Haderson, it _is_ that, indeed, he wants, if nothing else, to never do anything that will make Daniel Montgomery think badly of him. From the second Riley met Daniel, Riley has practically worshipped the ground Daniel walks on. And if there is a second thing I know about Riley, it's that he knows Daniel better than anyone in the world, so I know that he knows that Daniel highly respects certain qualities and holds them in the highest regard and expects everyone around him to do the same. Honor, integrity, honesty, and hard work, only to mention just a few. Riley knows that if he were to botch this case at all – just to fudge one fact to help Jessica – that Daniel would disown him without a second thought.

"And if your mind needs proof of that – Riley could have charged Jessica with self-defense. None of us would be wiser. But he did not."

"And if I were to take your word for it," Tatianna said through a tense grin, "why chose him and not another capable investigator?"

"He's the only one that is not afraid of Daniel."

Finally, the tense face broke and Tatianna gave a fraction of a grin. "Well, I imagine that particular quality is rare among the Aurors."

Andorra grinned too. "Yes, it is.

"Honestly though, Tatianna. Put together your team, do your investigation, settle your own feelings about the Dark Operators. But, _please_, think long and hard before you disband them. These guys have gotten further into the dark world than any other organization before them. The group works, and I don't think we really want to know how they do it."

Tatianna gave a mild nod. "But I still want the investigation."

Andorra nodded. "I understand. But please run your team of investigators by me before you do that. I really don't want anyone to know about these guys." There was a silence before Andorra said quietly, "I know you don't agree with Riley as lead investigator on Miss Ziners' case, but I didn't make that decision lightly. Daniel was already extremely emotional over the incident. I needed someone on the case who was not only not afraid of Daniel but someone who knows precisely how to handle him. And I also needed a damn good investigator. Riley is the only Auror that fits that bill. And yes, I know that to fit that bill, I had to make the sacrifice of having Riley having been close to those he is investigating, but in our business, you have to make those kind of sacrifices in favor of more important things.

"I wanted you as secretary, Tatianna. I wanted you specifically. You were the best Unspeakable trainer out there. You headed up our secret Unspeakable office in Russia and kept it so secret that I don't even think Daniel knows about it, which is saying something. During Grindelwald's time, we had not one Unspeakable cross over to his side, which we can't even say is true for even our top Aurors of that era. I'm praying that I can trust you and that I can trust that you will keep our top guys on our side during this fight with this Lord Voldemort, and I'm praying that you can weed out any that have turned already.

"And because I am not only trusting you with the lives of those here at this Department but with the lives of every American witch and wizard, probably more, I ask you this one thing.

"To trust my judgment of how I run my department."

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_

Daniel grabbed Riley's elbow and yanked him off to the side of the main bull pen of the Department of Magic.

"Hello, Daniel. How are you doing?" Riley asked with a grin.

Daniel rolled his eyes before saying, "I finally remembered where I've heard the name Tatianna Melovic before."

"You've heard the name before?" Riley asked, surprised.

"Yeah. She ran something in Russia for the American Department of Magic. Some secret Unspeakable facility. It was opened a few years before Grindelwald started wreaking havoc. It changed hands about fifteen years ago. Melovic's been being re-introduced to America and regular society and a regular, public job since then."

"She any good?" Riley asked, leaning against the wall and biting back a laugh as Daniel took a bite out of a cookie Riley hadn't noticed the man had been holding until a second ago.

"As an Unspeakable?" Daniel said after swallowing, "One of the best. As a boss? A bitch but excellent. Efficient, organized, knows what she's doing and how best to put people to make her organization run efficiently. As a person? Again, a bitch, but she's straight-laced. Hates the bad guys as much as an Auror does."

Riley nodded. "So, prospective good Secretary, barring the event in which she might disband us."

"Barring that," Daniel agreed after another bite of his cookie, "she'll be good. A bitch and a hard-ass, but she most likely won't turn. And she's not stupid."

"Which could be good or could be bad. What's your preliminary feeling?"

"First, what's yours?"

"A bitch, but not working for the bad guys."

"Same opinion here," Daniel said, finishing off all but one small bite of his cookie.

"You do realize you look ridiculous eating a cookie? The office terror eating a cookie." Riley grinned at him. Riley laughed when Daniel threw the rest of the cookie at him before taking off back towards the Dark Operators' office.

To be continued…


	11. Changes

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

**Chapter 11: Changes****  
**

By Laura don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

Character List:

Place: **Briana Manor:** a.k.a. the house on the hill (at the Department of Magic); the place where Jessica Ziners lived with her father and brother

**Nick Steimer (mc):** A First Year Ravenclaw.

**Vince McCallen (mc):** An old friend of Gary Rum's. I'll be giving a more detailed explanation of him in a character bio on the website. For now, it'll explain him as you read this chapter.

This chapter starts a few weeks into the school year. It is still the Second Year for Jessica Ziners and gang and first year for Casey and his group.

"Honor isn't about making the right choices. It's about dealing with the consequences."

Midori Koto

_It was time_, Jessica thought to herself. It was time to talk. To whom, she did not know. No, that was a lie. She glanced at the cauldron in front of her to see Severus Snape sweating over his own cauldron. His potion probably was perfect though. He was irritating when it came to his potions. Always perfect.

There was something about him though. Jessica had never gotten over what he had done after Christmas break their first year at Hogwarts. He had known something was wrong, he had known what it was, and without hesitation, something most other Slytherins would have had, he took her off to the side and took care of her.

She thought that the Slytherin House – and Tom Riddle – were underestimating Severus Snape. He was smart and had a strong magical power, a dangerous and all too prominent combination in the Slytherin House. But Severus was more dangerous than the others because he had one quality that the other Slytherins sorely lacked – humility. He didn't show off so no one knew the true extent of his power. He knew that it was not a name one feared but the aura of the name and of that presence, something earned by proving oneself as something that should be feared, and that didn't come from talking about it, not initially.

But that incident before Christmas showed Jessica that Severus had something else. It was something he fought fiercely to hide, but he had it. A heart. And that was something Jessica trusted in. And that's why Jessica knew she could trust her life with him.

The problem was that he wasn't talking to her.

Casey had told her that it was a time for change, a time to do things that Tom wouldn't predict. And Casey had said it was time to talk. A time for a change and a time to talk.

Jessica turned red instantly and looked back at her cauldron when Severus caught her staring at him

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"Oh, the mating ritual of the young," Madam Sprout said as she sat at the high table.

Gary rolled his eyes at his plate. He had a story on that note from his Potions lesson with the Second Year Slytherins today, but he wasn't about to share that. To be honest, it surprised him even though it probably shouldn't. After all, the two had bonded early on in their school careers, a bonding which seemed odd but extremely unique. He had finally admitted to himself that something was happening on a different level with these particular students – something more than likely beyond a mere, simple friendship.

"Which particular students and their mating rituals?" Stephen Medley asked.

"Jessica Ziners and Severus Snape," Sprout answered with a grin. "I spotted them in the hallway, trying to pretend that they weren't looking at each other."

Ahh, Gary thought to himself. The two particular students he was thinking about at the moment.

"Honestly?" Stephen asked, surprised. "I thought the two weren't on civil terms at the moment."

Sprout shook her head at Stephen as though he were a simple-minded child, something Gary very much thought of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "You can still have a crush on someone you aren't talking to."

"Ahhhh, young love," Professor Flitwick said. "I remember my first crush—"

"Professor," Minerva McGonagall started before glancing at Flitwick, who was staring at McGonagall quietly. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Minerva asked, looking at the four professors curiously.

"I sincerely hope so," Gary said.

"Professor Rum, I was wondering if I could speak to you privately for a moment about two of your students."

Gary nodded and pushed away from the table before standing up to follow McGonagall out to the antechamber behind the high table of the Great Hall. Once they were in the quiet of the empty room, Minerva explained, "I've been trying for a couple of weeks now to stop them, but it's getting annoying to me and distracting the two from their work."

"Who are they and what are they doing?" Gary asked, mildly concerned.

"Ziners and Snape, and they're staring at each other during class."

Gary, who had been looking away, looked at Minerva. "And you want me to speak with them about it?"

She nodded.

Gary returned her nod before asking, "And might you have any tips on how to go about this without making this talk extremely awkward for the three parties involved?"

Minerva gave him a perturbed look. Gary shrugged before walking back to the Great Hall, dreading this talk already.

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Gary Rum had warned Jessica of Maria's arrival to school last night. He said that she was going to resume school this morning. This morning at breakfast, Narcissa had told Jessica that Maria's friends sat consoling her all last night in the Slytherin Common Room. Apparently, Maria had promised to get revenge on Jessica for her father's imprisonment. After Jessica, then Maria was planning to seek revenge on Daniel Montgomery.

Jessica made a mental note that she was going to have to talk to Casey about possibly writing a note to Tom to let him know that Maria shouldn't touch Daniel Montgomery.

Jessica and all the girls of Slytherin Second Year dormitory were walking out of the Great Hall after lunch when Jessica first spotted her cousin across the Entrance Hall. Unfortunately, Maria and her groupies spotted her too. They came over. Maria was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Jessica," she said as though greeting an old friend, and if Jessica needed reminding of the crowd she hung out with, it came right at that moment. Jessica had been under the impression that she might have a friend or two, but while they protected their own as a house from the other three houses, when it came to the pretty girl boss of Slytherin House, they ditched her faster than a spell left a wand.

"Bye, Jessica," they called and left to their next class.

Before the desertion hit Jessica, Maria put an arm around Jessica's shoulders. "Jessica," she repeated, "I want to show you something." Maria's friends – Jessica counted four of them – surrounded Jessica so that her only chance of escape would result in a brawl. As the group led Jessica up the stairs, she thought over that option of a brawl. They had wands. Jessica did not. Her only magical option would be the weak magic of her hands. Leaving out the fact that she could only do little with that magic, she knew that to do that magic would let the authorities of Hogwarts know that she was different and maybe dangerous to them. She had that choice – it would be an escape from Voldemort – but Casey was right. That would leave her brother alone. There was also the possibility that Tom may get her out of whatever captivity that the authorities would put her in. She may not want to leave Tom's side then. It would be a freedom.

So the magical escape was out. Jessica glanced over the girls as they moved down the hall to find the next staircase. She could take them physically, but then there were four of them, and, either way, she would be deemed as violent. She would be led down the same path as the magical escape. So Jessica was left only with following Maria and to see where she took her.

She took her to Myrtle's out of service bathroom.

And the group proceeded to beat her to a pulp with their magic.

Jessica never knew when they left because she was unconscious.

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Lily was just rounding the corner to get to her first afternoon class when she noticed that Maria Ziners exited with a group of friends from a bathroom on the second floor. Normally, this wouldn't stick out to Lily but the fact that the girls exited from a bathroom with an 'out-of-order' sign on the front caught Lily's attention. Lily was already late for class. She looked every direction to see if there was anyone around. Maria and her group had already gone downstairs. Lily was about to just move on to get to her class, but she couldn't get over the feeling that she needed to check that bathroom.

She took a deep breath and cautiously pushed open the door. "Hello?" she called.

No response.

Lily took another deep breath before taking a step inside. "Hello?" she called again.

She heard a groan. It caused her to step further into the bathroom in alarm. She didn't see anyone. Lily started walking down the way of the stalls. Every stall door was open except the last one. She went to it and pushed at the door, but it didn't open. She brought out her wand, but before she did anything, there was a swoosh before water splattered everywhere. There was a giggle and another groan before a ghost floated through the door to the stall.

"Gotcha again, Jessica," the ghost said gleefully before she spotted Lily. Lily had heard about this ghost. Moaning Myrtle, the girls called her. She was a very whiny ghost, one you general wanted to avoid.

"Oh, who is visiting my bathroom?" She enquired with a shy smile.

"Lily Evans," Lily answered politely before pointing her wand at the lock of the stall door. "Alohomora."

Lily pushed the door open. It hit something solid on the ground. There was another groan. Lily peaked around the corner.

"Oh, my gosh," she said when she recognized the brownish blonde head of Jessica. She knelt next to Jessica. Her friend picked up her limp head.

"Whoa," Jessica said hoarsely, closing her eyes. She blinked them open again. It took her a minute, but she finally focused on Lily. This caused her to freak out. She started to push at Lily.

"No, no, no! Get out, Lily! Don't see me like this! Pleaseeeeeee!" By the time, Jessica was done with her pleading and fighting, they were out of the stall, Jessica on her hands and knees in front of Lily, who had stood and stepped away from Jessica.

Lily was frozen for a moment, surprised at Jessica's fighting and words. It wasn't until a drop of blood ran down Jessica's chin and dripped onto the floor that Lily moved again. She knelt in front of Jessica. Her friend wasn't looking at her. She was just looking at some indiscriminate place in front of her off to the right. Jessica was breathing heavy and was rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. Lily didn't think that was from the injuries. Lily placed her hands on Jessica's shoulders and pushed her to the left. She got her on a back swing so it was easy to push her into a sitting position, her back against the wall.

Jessica covered her face. "Don't see me like this, Lily," Jessica said, her voice wavering.

"Why not?" Lily asked. "This isn't your fault."

Jessica nodded into her hands. "Yes, it is. I—," Jessica stopped herself. "Lily, you're too good for me," Jessica whispered into her hands. "Protect yourself now. I am a black curse. I am what they say I am."

"You're only are what _you_ say you are, Jessica. If you act like how they expect you to act, then that's what you are."

Jessica peaked at Lily with one eye. Lily saw blood smear Jessica's face as she did this.

"You don't get that choice, Lily. Sometimes you just don't get that choice."

"You think it's bad that your uncle caught Maria's dad doing something evil," Lily said. "You're wrong with that."

Jessica snorted in amusement only to groan in pain the very next second. "Uncle Danny has no idea what he's dealing with. Nor did Maria's dad. Nor does Maria. Lily, be careful where you step in Hogwarts because these are dark days."

Lily laughed. "Then I came just in time. Move your hands," she instructed as she pulled a handkerchief from her backpack. She went to the sink to wet it before coming back to start cleaning Jessica's face.

Lily's friend remained silent for a period before she said. "You can't tell a soul about this, Lil."

"I have to," Lily said as though it weren't a big deal. "Maria and her gang beat you up once. They'll do it again."

Lily was shocked when Jessica grabbed her wrist. The grip was tight, almost painful. "Lily, you cannot breathe a word of this. It isn't about Maria and her gang. I will find a way to beat them because I'm a Slytherin. I don't lose sitting down. But that's not the issue. If the professors think I'm dangerous, I'm out of Hogwarts. I can't leave, Lily. I'm not ready."

Lily silently stared at Jessica, surprised that her eyes were not their dark anger, but a reddish brown that Lily had not seen in Jessica's eyes before. Jessica's grip remained on Lily's wrist, waiting for her answer. But Lily couldn't give her the answer she wanted…not yet.

"I thought you didn't like the new arrangement," Lily said. "I would think you would want freedom."

"This _is_ my freedom, Lily. It's a prison where I get beat up by a cousin who can't think for herself and get ridiculed by people who have no idea and have to live with people I didn't chose, but, Lily, it's a very little sacrifice. At present, it is a _very_ little sacrifice.

"Those professors can't know about this. They won't understand."

"No," Lily insisted. "They want to help you."

"They can't help what they don't know," Jessica said. "I'll be fine. I'll talk to Rabastan about Maria. He'll be able to talk to his brother and Bellatrix. They'll protect me. But you've got to let the house handle this. Not the professors. That's how Slytherin works."

Lily took a deep breath. Jessica's eyes were almost desperate in their coloring, but her voice was calm, soothing, convincing. Lily slowly nodded. Jessica took a deep breath and smiled at Lily. Lily finished healing her, but Lily's heart was heavy.

Lily had no idea that the weight on her heart would only get heavier until one fateful night in the Gryffindor Common Room in their Seventh Year. Then and only then would Lily reveal anything about that weight.

And it would lead to the most frightening and deadly day in Hogwarts history.

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Later that day, having been healed by Lily, an unbeaten-looking Jessica stood at the end of the parallel bars that Rohan Figg had set up in the empty classroom next to the Hospital Ward. Currently, Madam Pomfrey stood at the other end as Rohan walked with Casey as he used the bars to try to walk to his sister.

When Casey started to get angry and frustrated four steps away from Pomfrey, Jessica stuck out her tongue at him. Madam Pomfrey and Jessica, if they reached their arms to each other, could almost touch. Rohan had told her and Casey it was little things first, but Rohan had taken Jessica off to the side to ask her to encourage him until Rohan told her to back off.

"Stop sticking your tongue out," Casey growled at her.

"Make me," she replied, blowing a raspberry.

The glare he sent her could have made Tom Riddle jump, but Jessica just grinned at him.

"One step more than yesterday," she instructed.

"No," he growled, his voice laced with pain.

"One more step," she said, looking at his legs then at his straining arms, before gleefully smiling at him. "I-dare-you," she said slowly.

His eyes locked with his sister's, he gritted his teeth and, with an agonizing push, moved his right foot one more step forward. Rohan and Pomfrey cheered. Jessica merely smirked at him.

A few minutes later, Casey was back on his bed in the Hospital Ward, drinking water like it was going out of style. Rohan did a thorough examination of his legs, exclaiming his good accomplishments the whole time.

Finally, Rohan left. The kids went right into the talk they had been having for a few days now.

"Sooner."

"Later."  
"Sooner."

"Later."

"Jessica!" Casey yelled, exasperated. He glanced away to take a deep breath before looking back at Jessica in the eyes. He was pleased to note the blue was light mixed with a green-tinged humor denoting that while she was partly serious, she was teasing him too. As a result, Casey's next words, though serious, were lighter than his exasperation. "If we seriously want to start approaching our situation at a different angle, you have to tell what happened to someone who wasn't there for it all."

She looked down. "I know," she said quietly.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Casey asked next.

She nodded.

_Severus?_ He asked in her head.

She nodded.

_Do you remember that he's not talking to you now?_

Again, she nodded.

_Out of curiosity, why him?_

_We trust him with the Mighty Blood secret. And…_

When she stopped, Casey looked at her curiously. _And what?_

_Do remember right before I went back to school after Christmas Break last year? Right before Dad and I left to go to the train station?_

Casey looked down at his feet. He remembered clearly what had happened because it had been his fault. Another beating for another trip and fall. What had been a bit different than usual was that Jessica had opened her mouth to defend him. This happened but very rarely because Dad had viewed the offense of tripping as a little thing where talking back to him – something that the defense of Casey had amounted to – had earned her a worse beating. After Dad had beat out his anger on Casey's imperfection and Jessica's obstinacy on both Jessica and Casey, he had healed Jessica's wounds before cuffing her four times across the mouth. He had made her go to school that way, instructing her very carefully beforehand that if she were to go to the school nurse for any reason whatsoever, that he would kill Casey.

_Remember the mouth wounds?_

This time, it was Casey who nodded.

_At the train station, Severus took one look at me and knew something was the matter. He healed me, no questions asked._ She shrugged then. _Well, he did ask a question, but I knew that if I didn't answer it, he wouldn't pressure me to do otherwise._

_What question did he ask?_ Casey asked.

_If it was Dad or Mom that did that to me. That's when I found out that his mom was abusing him too._

Casey and Jessica looked at each other for a long time before Casey said, _He wants to join Tom's side._

_Honestly, Case, I don't think he wants to. I don't think he thinks he has a choice. But, either way, Tom knows why I killed Dad. If my story gets back to Tom, he won't find any surprises in it. But honestly, Case. Honestly, I don't think Severus will tell Tom the story. At least, the way I tell it. They underestimate Severus for a reason. He doesn't give them a reason to think otherwise. There's a reason for that, Case._

_That's easy_, Casey said. _He wants to play his cards close to his vest._

_So do we, Case. So do we._

_He already knows that he can use Severus to get close to us_, Casey pointed out.

_I'm not going to marry him, Case. I'm just going to practice my story out on him._ When all Casey did was nod, Jessica said, _I understand your nervousness on this issue, but, as you said, I have to practice._

Casey looked up at her, but he remained quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, it was out loud. "Jessica, say what you did on Christmas day. What did you do to Dad?"

Jessica opened her mouth…but nothing came out. Casey waited a minute, but his sister remained mute. He nodded as though he had just confirmed something.

"Keep in mind that you're going to have to say it when you talk to Severus."

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It was a week later when Rum called her and Severus' name in class.

"Miss Ziners and Mr. Snape, will you please stay after class?" Professor Rum said as the kids started to pack up. The students all made noises and comments at this request. Jessica looked at Severus' back, but he didn't look back at her. He just merely gave Professor Rum a look – she could half imagine what it looked like – before going back to packing his bag.

When the classroom cleared, Jessica didn't move from her spot near the back. Severus didn't move from his spot near the front. Rum stayed behind his desk in the front. After looking at the two at their respective distances, Rum sighed.

"For goodness sakes, just get up here, Miss Ziners. And no more dirty looks, Mr. Snape."

Jessica drudgingly picked up her bag and moved up to the table next to Severus.

Rum sighed and leaned forward, resting his hands on his desk.

"I've heard a comment from one teacher and had another teacher request something of me, and it concerns you two. You two are extremely distracted at times. The only reason I'm mentioning something is because I've also noticed the same distraction in my class, and, in this class, distraction is a problem that could have dangerous consequences."

"How have we been…" Severus glanced at Jessica before looking back to Rum, "…'distracted'?"

Rum looked down and swallowed before he said quietly and quickly, "You two have been caught staring at each other."

Jessica tried to say something but only incoherent jumble came out.

Severus gave her a condescending look before rolling his eyes. "You were always an eloquent one, Jessica."

She gave him an offended look. "I don't know what you just said to me, but it didn't sound good at all."

"You're talking again," came an observation from the doorway. Both kids spun to see Stephen Medley standing there.

Jessica grabbed her bag angrily before stomping off. Stephen got out of her way quickly because she looked likely to plow out the door no matter whom or what was in her way.

Severus grabbed his bag, mumbling under his breath the whole way out about idiotic and annoying girls.

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Jessica received another beating later that week from Maria and her friends. She tried to fight back this time and barely missed getting her nose broken. She couldn't break any bones because she couldn't heal them herself, so Jessica, once again, went limp and let them beat her. She waited in the bathroom afterwards. It hurt to move so she let Myrtle continually splash her with water. When she had gotten herself rather wet, she was able to lift her arm and wash her face. Except for some bruises, she was relatively good there. Except for a cut. Jessica felt the length of it. It ran from the front of her ear down around the edge of her jawbone. It wasn't bleeding anymore she noted.

What was she suppose to do, she wondered. She couldn't fight back. She just had to sit here and take the beatings until she could fight back. She had to get into a position to fight back. That was her life, she realized. She guessed it like that chessboard that the Bloody Baron had likened it to. She had changed position on the chessboard. She was in a dangerous position to Lord Voldemort – dangerous to herself but to Tom too, but this was a moment when the danger was to herself. She was to take the beatings until she could either fight back or breathe her very last breath. Was she a Gryffindor or was she a Slytherin?

Jessica stood up with a grunt.

When she walked out of the bathroom, she ran right into Sirius Black and James Potter. They had been in deep conversation so Sirius hadn't seen the door before it smacked his arm and ribs.

"Hey, watch out!" He yelled. It was late at night, so no one was around.

"I'm sorry," Jessica mumbled and made to go the other way – quickly.

"Ziners! Come back here!" James yelled.

She sped up her steps in the other direction. They didn't go after her. After all, Jessica was still a Slytherin. They were Gryffindors.

They were enemies.

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"What's wrong?" Sirius asked in an uncharacteristic moment of perceptiveness.

James' eyes remained on Jessica Ziners' back until she turned the corner. "That's not even the way back to her room," James said to Sirius.

"So?"

"Did something look wrong with her?" James asked, giving Sirius his attention once again.

"No," Sirius growled and started back down the hallway.

"She was all wet," James told him.

Sirius shrugged it off. "We've got bigger things to talk about than Ziners," he said. "We've got to get out to that tree before Remus and Pomfrey get there."

James nodded and the two started off again. "Do you think Remus really is a…?" James trailed off on his question.

Sirius nodded. "Without a doubt. I want to hear or see something to be for sure."

James sighed and nodded, clutching his invisibility cloak tighter.

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Jessica wandered the halls, tears running unchecked. She needed to find a place to hide. She desperately needed to find a place to hide. She couldn't do this! Everyone was an enemy. James and she had sworn to be blood siblings – they would never leave each other in friendship except to hide it in Hogwarts. But Jessica couldn't even count on him! She wanted to count on Lily, but as much as her Muggle friend now knew, she still couldn't understand. James understood Jessica's world somewhat. His father attempted to see in the darkness. On some level, James seemed to comprehend that. Best of all, he never made Jessica apologize for who she was. Sure, he called her to task once in awhile, but he never made her apologize for being who she was.

But he would never understand this.

Jessica had to hide. From everything.

She walked down the stairs and out the front door. Once the doors shut, Jessica was cloaked in darkness. She took her first deep breath in a long time. Glancing over her shoulder, she knew that she didn't want to return. Ever.

But Jessica knew that she couldn't leave the Hogwarts grounds because an alarm would be set off.

Jessica looked at the Forest. The Forbidden Forest. Jessica remembered Severus had once told her that he felt the Forbidden Forest call to him. She hadn't understood him then, but she did now. When Severus had told her that, she had asked him why he didn't just go into the forest. He had said that if he succumbed to the temptation just once, he wouldn't be able to stop.

Jessica had nothing else left but to succumb to the temptation.

She walked about ten feet away from the building and stopped. She stared into the darkness that even the moonlight couldn't penetrate. It called to her. It screamed to her. Yet she stopped.

She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Need a place to sit?"

She spun towards the voice. It was sitting in the shadows of the castle, but she didn't need to see the owner to know who that voice belonged to.

"Quiet, no one sees you, no one, all alone…"

"Is that why you're sitting there?" she asked.

The voice chuckled.

Jessica stepped towards the voice, then stopped. "But you can see me…"

"But I'm not really anyone, am I?" he murmured. She didn't need to see him to know that he shrugged. "But it's up to you."

She looked between his dark corner and then the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

"It's a tough choice though." His voice was completely even and impassive, but she knew a Severus joke when she heard one.

She stomped over to him, plopped down at the base of the castle, and made a point of sitting too close to him so she could shove him over a bit.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked after a minute of silence.

"I was done with my homework, and I was afraid that if I went to the library to read, some crazy girl might sit across from me and not talk, so I decided to check out the stars."

Jessica didn't take his teasing bait and merely looked up at the stars with him. She waited five very long minutes for him to say something to her, ask something of her, but he never did. Finally, the silence started to kill her, so in an impulsive burst, she said, "Severus."

He looked at her with innocent expectation. When she didn't follow his name with anything, he asked, "Yes?"

She looked away. "Nothing," she said.

Severus, to her surprise, went back to his stargazing. Then again, maybe she shouldn't have been that surprised. Severus was the kind to mind his own business.

There was another silent stretch, this one lasting only three minutes before his name burst again from her lips. "Severus."

Again, they looked at each other, Jessica looking into his dark eyes, Severus looking into her bluish-grey ones, and, again, when Jessica didn't continue, he asked, "Yes?"  
"Nothing," she murmured as she looked away once more.

The next stretch of silence lasted a mere minute.

"Severus."

And instead of turning to stare innocently at her, Severus reached for her hand. He pressed a cold, circular piece of metal into her cold, sweaty palm. She pulled it close to her face and stared in surprise at the American penny she had given him many months ago.

"I've paid you. Now you have to tell me."

She looked at him, her jaw hanging from its hinges. He just stared back, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight.

"Can I trust you, Severus?" she whispered.

His eyes fell to her hand.

"Well, I _did_ pay," Severus finally responded, throwing her a tiny fraction of a grin.

The noise that came from Jessica next was half laugh, half sob. And for the first time in her life, she truly trusted someone other than her brother.

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Sirius and James were completely silent as they watched Remus and Madam Pomfrey walk to the tree. They listened intently to the two speak.

They merely glanced at each other before going back to castle. It wasn't until they were in the Common Room that they looked at each other.

"What do you think?" James asked.

Sirius merely shook his head. "I don't know what to think."

"We have to ask him," James said.

Sirius nodded. They went to the dorm room in silence.

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"She doesn't have the appearance of a murderer."

Gary Rum spun around in surprise. Not many people could do that to him anymore.

It was morning, and Gary was getting a potion ready before his next class.

"Vince McCallen," Gary said. "It's been a long time—"

"Not long enough, I know," Vince said with a chuckle as he walked into the Potions classroom. "And before you say anything, Headmaster Dumbledore knows I'm here. And why."

"Why a lawyer would be here when a student at Hogwarts is up for a murder trial in America? I haven't the faintest idea. I am so glad you didn't make Albus guess."

The corner of Vince's mouth went up. "Same old Gary. I love it. But, if it will be of any interest to you at all – which I'm sure you'll ignore anyway - I'm not here in the capacity of a lawyer."

Gary took one glance at him before going back to his potions. "You're lying."

A fraction of a grin came back to Vince's normally passive face. "Well, I'm not here entirely as a lawyer."

"But you are here to observe a student?" Gary placated for a second.

"Observing her partly as a lawyer, mostly out of morbid curiosity."

"Morbid curiosity?" Gary asked mildly, pouring some moonstone into the cauldron.

"I'm curious as to what other person in the world Gary Rum has a soft spot for. I wanted to eye the competition."

Gary rolled his eyes into the cauldron. "Why I was ever friendly to you, I do not know."

"Well, I have one theory. Gary Rum has a soft spot for the clumsy goofs with evil parents. But apparently, that description fits more of the young Casey Ziners. Jessica, according to Albus, is more like you."

"When it comes to the clumsy goofs, I do not have a soft spot. They just tend to fall on me." Like Vince did when his father threw him out of a second story window when he was seven and Gary was 12.

"Anyways," Vince said, peaking at the cauldron from a safe distance. "What are you doing? Stocking up for the upcoming war with this Voldemort?"

This caused Gary to look at Vince, confirming Vince's thoughts.

The two were silent for a second before Vince asked quietly, "Do you think it will be as bad as Grindelwald?"

Gary outright didn't answer the question. This, Vince understood. He didn't push.

"Why are you really here anyway?" Gary asked.

"I was actually sent here to poke around a little. The American Department of Magic has a new Secretary."

Gary nodded. "I know. Tatianna Melovic."

Vince, Gary could see, wanted desperately to question Gary's opinion on this appointment, but they both knew that Vince wouldn't push this for fear of Gary closing up on him.

"I work at the American Magic Embassy in London as you probably know. I use to work with Melovic, so we have a history."

"You use to date Melovic," Gary supplied.

Vince shook his head with a chuckle. "Exactly how far do your sources reach?"

"Far enough," Gary replied.

"Anyhow, she knew that I had attended Hogwarts and knew the layout."

"She also knew that you're father was entrenched in Grindelwald so you can see the difference between a good person in a bad situation and a bad person in a bad situation."

"You know Melovic very well," Vince replied with a smile.

"I have not yet had the displeasure to meet her."

"Avoid her as long as possible. You two would hate each other."

Gary bent over his cauldron. "Thanks for the warning," he murmured. Gary continued with his potion in his like manner in hopes of getting across the message that he considered this visit over, but he should have known Vince better. When Gary looked back at the other half of his room after a few minutes, Vince was still standing there, looking at him.

Before Gary had a chance to tell him to leave, Vince said quietly, "She doesn't look like a murderer."

"Is there an appearance requirement to being a murderer?" Gary asked, giving Vince his attention this time.

"You know that's not what I meant," Vince replied quietly. "I don't get from her what I got from the others. She more than felt no other choice to killing her father. There really was _no other choice_. Except for her brother dying, that is."  
"There is always that," Gary responded.

"Unfortunately though, that isn't always foolproof protection from the law. What story did she tell?" Vince leaned back against one of the students' tables.

"She hasn't yet."

"She hasn't yet? It's been a month. They haven't forced her to say anything?"

Gary shook his head.

"That's unusual," Vince replied quietly.

"Jessica's a bit of an unusual child. Unlike us, she has family members on both sides."

Vince nodded. "Yes, yes, her uncle. Tatianna must be unsure what to think of him."

"So is the other side I've heard."

"Ahh," Vince nodded. "That's always a good thing for an Auror."

There was a silence then. Unlike others around Gary, Vince was able to hold his silence. Vince, like Casey to Jessica, was able to hold his own among Gary. He knew that Gary disliked silence but knew how to use it as a weapon. Unfortunately for Gary, he had taught Vince long ago how to wield it as a weapon for himself just as effectively.

"It wasn't a choice, Vince," he finally said quietly. "And Jessica can't go to Azkaban. She may want to at this point, but she can't. If she goes, we've lost her and whoever else would come with her."

"How long before she leaves Voldemort?" Vince asked quietly.

"I don't even know for sure she knows Voldemort," Gary replied evasively.

"Don't give me that shit, Gary. You know I won't let Tatianna know. I'm just here to give her my opinion, straight and up. No reasoning behind it. She knows better than to ask me more than a yes or no. How long before Ziners leaves Voldemort?"  
"I really don't know, you little mangy rat."

"She doesn't talk about it?" Vince asked, a little surprised.

Gary shook his head, going back to his potion.

Vince let out a breath. "This is bigger than I thought it was."

The Potions Master glanced at Vince. "What do you mean by that?"

"You didn't talk about Grindelwald to anyone outside, even after you left. You barely mentioned his name on the inside. You sure called him a number of other names, but you only spoke his name when you absolutely had to."

Vince looked across the cauldron at Gary, meeting Gary's eyes. "You were being trained to be Grindelwald's top assassin. You murdered several times before 18 years of age. Give me a better reason not to get Ziners out of her situation. What's to keep this Voldemort from requiring a murder out of Jessica that we can't agree with?"

"Because Ziners isn't me," Gary said steadily. "And though the situation may appear to be similar, there is something I know that you don't."

"And wait until Voldemort assigns her her first murder?" Vince asked, anger edging into his voice.

"Because unlike me, I don't think Jessica has ever been a willing participant at any point in the game. Neither was Madeline."

"What do you know?"

"Enough to know that Jessica doesn't want to be on the side she's on. The only thing keeping her there is her brother and a man that has sources far beyond mine, sources that are willing to murder. And there is something that this Voldemort wants from Jessica that will keep her alive and her brother safe without requiring Jessica to become an assassin."

"What is it, Gary?"

"I can't tell you, Vince. You must trust me on this."

"Did Madeline Ziners tell you?"

When Gary looked away, Vince understood the answer to that. He knew exactly then how Gary had found out. What exactly he had found out, Vince was unsure. But whatever it was, it was deadly important.

Gary sighed and looked back at Vince finally. "Vince, I trust you. This you know. But Madeline and then Jessica both trusted me with a secret that destiny dictates they cannot reveal easily out of as much destiny as it is fear of reaction, an example being the use of this Voldemort of first Madeline, then Jessica. I cannot reveal this secret to you. It will more than likely be revealed in time, but until Miss Ziners chooses to reveal it, it will remain unsaid. Until then, I must do what I can to help her. That consists of her staying out of Azkaban. She is too valuable to this Voldemort for us to use our resources to hide her, for I fear that Voldemort's resources already far surpass that of Grindelwald's, and this wizard hasn't even started. We must trust Miss Ziners' training to save her and until we can actually save her ourselves, we must be a source of comfort. Sending her to Azkaban cannot do that. So we must prevent her being sent there. If this Melovic already does not like Jessica's uncle, I guarantee she does not like the assignment of Mr. Haderson onto the investigation. Is Jessica a safe bet? Nothing ever is, and you know this. Is Jessica on our side? I sincerely believe so. Will she remain on our side? God willing, yes, but you know that this can change quickly for anyone. Would she be better in Azkaban? I don't know for sure."

"But what do you think?" Vince asked quietly.

"I think we need to keep her out of Azkaban. As I've said to others before you, Jessica Ziners is not the key to winning this upcoming war, but she will guarantee we have a winning chance. This war will not be like the war with Grindelwald. This war will have much more to do with Hogwarts then ever before. And recently, I've discovered that Hogwarts is currently the only place Miss and Mister Ziners are safe from Voldemort's direct clutches."

"But they aren't safe from his indirect clutches," Vince surmised.

Gary shook his head. "Any clever, determined wizard or witch can reach anywhere anytime if they so desire."

Vince nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, Vince, Miss Ziners is guilty of treason in probably the highest degree, but you know as well as I – sometimes to keep the good people as safe as possible, you must do the most evil things. And for goodness sake, Vince. She's a 12-year old girl. We're going to have to give her leeway from time to time. Your Melovic isn't going to understand that like we are."

Vince nodded. "I already know she doesn't understand much. She knows I'll lie to her, but she knows I'm directed by my conscience in doing so."

"Beyond what I've already said, you're going to have to trust me. I wish I could do more…"

Vince nodded. "I guess I understand. I don't like it…but I know I can trust you."

"I hope you can too," Gary replied.

Vince bit his lower lip in a look of indecision. Damn, Gary had forgotten how well he knew this boy. As a boy, his body had grown faster than Vince could mentally grow into it. He had tripped over everything in sight. Gary didn't know how many silences had been broken by one of Vince's clumsy entrances. Vince had been one of three beings that Grindelwald had used to control Gary when he would occasionally disobey an order. It was with Vince and the others that Gary had plotted an escape after that little girl… Gary didn't want to remember that night ever again. He remembered Jessica asking him if he had a memory he had never told, and he had responded that yes, there was. And that night was his memory. Not even Vince fully knew what happened that night and of the three, Vince and Gary, much to Gary's dismay, had been the closest. Vince had grown on him like a bad wart and had never left.

And even though Vince had grown into his body and his mind and fought against Grindelwald in every way possible and even though Vince had become a very prominent lawyer specializing in criminal magically law, there was still an indecisive boy lurking inside him, one who only wanted to do good but like so many with his past, was still confused on how to do it. Gary didn't think, no matter how many years passed, one could ever fully learn the "right way" after having been brought up told that the so-called "wrong way" was the only way. No one could ever fully be "retrained". And Gary didn't think that that was ever truly appropriate either.

Vince finally nodded. "I'll tell Melovic something to satisfy her. But, Gary…"

Gary sighed. "What is it?"

"If you're wrong…you know what you have to do."

Gary nodded. "Yes, I know, Vince. Now go away."

Vince grinned. He saluted Gary. "I will see you in another few years." When Vince was almost out of the door, Gary's voice stopped him.

"Sooner."

"What?" Vince turned, confused.

"See me sooner."

Vince grinned at him.

"Oh, go away," Gary groaned, going back to his cauldron.

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Jessica was walking to Potions when she saw the odd man again. He had been wandering around the halls before breakfast. When he had saw her before breakfast, he had stared a good long while. It had made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

This time, when she saw him, she glared. He grinned at her.

"See you later, Miss Ziners," he said on his way past.

Jessica stopped him by grabbing his arm. "How did you know my name?" she demanded.

He grinned even bigger. "Because I know everything. Well," he shrugged, "not as much as your esteemed Potions Master but close. I was sent to observe you for a bit. I've come to a conclusion, and now I'm off to report it."

She didn't let go of his sleeve. "What's your conclusion? That I'm a murderer?"

"Now, now, Miss Ziners!" he exclaimed, his grin maddening. "If our roles were reversed, would you reveal your thoughts on me?"

Jessica thought a moment before shaking her head.

"Good girl," Vince said, shaking his wrist a little when she let go. "And Miss Ziners, for future reference, you can deduce a lot about people by their mere immediate reaction to you. If a murderer had grabbed my sleeve, my immediate reaction would have been passivity and not an immediate grin. You can learn a lot about a person by listening to them, but you can learn a lot more by how they move, how they react. Listen to both what they tell you _and_ don't tell you. Remember that." And with that, he gave her a small salute and left.

Jessica turned to go to her classroom, her mind deep in thought. She sat down next to Severus today, surprising most of the class.

"I sent a letter off this morning to my dad," Severus whispered to her, "I asked him to find out what he could about your…things."

"'Things'?" Jessica asked. "Such a word. Severus. It's the kind us common people use."

Severus rolled his eyes to her smirk.

"But seriously, you didn't need to do that," Jessica continued.

"I know that you can't always know what's going to come up, but it's best to be prepared as much as possible."

When all Jessica did was look at him, he shrugged, looked away and shrugged again. "What?" he asked nervously.

"Thank you," she mumbled, looking away and blushing.

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"What if," Sirius asked, one eye on the Whomping Willow, the other on Remus, "that tree was just to protect something? Like a secret hiding place?"

The four boys had been walking back from Hagrid's Hut. They had just had afternoon tea with Hagrid. All through this, James and Sirius had kept glancing at each other, nervous about the topic they planned to bring up on the way back to the castle. They had planned to insist on this story of the Whomping Willow to measure Remus' reaction. They weren't sure what type of reaction they were expecting. Remus was normally a very passive boy and very little affected him. If Sirius' prank to throw Severus Snape in the icy lake buck-naked just before Christmas hadn't fazed Remus except for his usual protests, how would the concocted story about the Whomping Willow affect him?

"What do you think, James?"

James nodded as he glanced at the Whomping Willow. "I think you may be on to something, Sirius. What do you think, Remus?"

Remus, who had been staring at the ground in front of them as they walked, shook his head without looking up. "I don't think you're right."

"I think I am, Remus." This time, Sirius' eyes were on Remus and never wavered to the tree. Remus stopped. One step later, so did James and Sirius, turning as they did so. It took Peter four steps, but he finally turned. Remus' eyes remained on the ground for a long time before he looked up. Sirius and James were both staring at him. Remus took a deep breath. Both Sirius and James nodded.

"We know," Sirius said.

"How?" Remus asked.

"You were gone during every full moon," Sirius said.

"We noticed the injuries you tried to hide," James added.

"Then we followed you and Madam Pomfrey one night to the Whomping Willow," Sirius said. "We guessed it from there."

Remus looked back at the ground before turning around to walk away. Sirius, James, and Peter glanced at each other in confusion before taking off after Remus.

"Where you going, Remus?" James asked.

"Away. I assume that's how you want it now." His answer was so matter-of-fact that it only served to confuse the other three even more.

"What do you mean?" Sirius questioned.

Remus glanced up for the first time. His eyes on Sirius as he walked, he replied, "You found out what I am. No one wants to be around a werewolf."

Sirius and James exchanged a smirk before saying to Remus, "For as smart as you are, you're kind of stupid."

Remus moved his eyes back to the ground as he sped up his steps. He looked to be returning to Hagrid's Hut.

"If we didn't want to be around you, we would have left longggggg ago. Trust me," Sirius said.

"We like you, Remus. It's okay that you are what you are. You didn't do it on purpose."

Remus' steps finally slowed. He looked at James, who had spoken last. His glance then took in Sirius and finally Peter.

"You…..you…you really don't mind?"

James and Sirius shook their heads. When Peter didn't, Sirius smacked his arm, causing Peter to shake his head too. Remus still looked unsure though.

"You say that now, but it's only a matter of time."

Sirius groaned and rolled his eyes.

The boys were silent for a time before James spoke. "Remus, when I was younger, my dad brought home an old friend of his. We ate dinner, and I listened to his stories of being an Auror in Italy. It was very neat. It wasn't until near the end of dinner that the man let something slip. He was a werewolf. I was surprised, but my dad and my mom weren't. The next time David came, I introduced him to Sirius."

"Yeah, once you got to know him, his being a werewolf didn't matter. My parents never pushed the prejudices of werewolves on me. Same with James' parents. Sure, we learned about it, but we got to know a werewolf before we ever knew about that part of him. The same goes for you, Remus."

Remus looked each boy in the face. His face lingered the longest on Peter. "What about you, Peter?" he asked quietly.

Peter looked at Sirius and James. James gave him a friendly, urging look. Sirius gave him a threatening look.

"Sirius," Remus groaned. "Let Peter decide without you threatening him. Peter," Remus said coaxingly, "look just at me." Peter was slow, but he did. "I won't hurt you. I go to a place the afternoon before the full moon appears. I can't leave that place. There's no way I can escape. The Headmaster made sure of that before I ever came to Hogwarts. As long as I make it to that place before every full moon, everyone is safe."

There were two full minutes of silence before Peter nodded. "Alright. You haven't hurt anyone so far."

Remus nodded. "I haven't." He sighed before his gaze turned back to Sirius then James. "Are you guys _sure_?"

Both immediately nodded.

"You can't tell anyone," he warned.

All three nodded when he looked at them.

Remus looked down and sighed again. "I give you two full moons before you leave me and tell the whole school," he mumbled before pushing through between Peter and Sirius to head back to the school, leaving the three to stand a few feet from the danger of the Whomping Willow.

"I give Remus a whole semester of full moons before he believes we're all right with this werewolf thing," Sirius replied, a grin on his face.

James smirked at him before both boys turned to Peter.

It was Sirius that grabbed the collar of Peter's robes. He twisted his hold so it was choking Peter. "If you say anything to anyone, I will do more than kill you. And if you say you have any problem with Remus' condition, I will break every bone in your body before burning each muscle in your body to a broiling mass of puke. Understand?"

Peter, his face blue, nodded, little choking sounds coming out of his mouth. Sirius let him go, both he and James walking off, letting Peter pick himself up on his own.

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"Hi, Marcus."

Marcus glanced up to see Michael Snape enter his office.

"Hello, Michael. Do you need me for something?"

Michael shook his head. "Actually no. I'm bored. I came to see if you needed help on something."

Marcus raised his eyebrows in a look of disbelief. "Bored? Even when you have reports on things as boring as cauldron dimensions, you're in your office until they're read."

Michael smiled as he closed the door without a word. This caused Marcus to smile in curiosity. He set down Tom's most recent report, grabbed his tea, and gave Michael his full attention. The tall, aristocratic looking man sat down and crossed his legs. "You're right. I'm here on a mission. Like many, I have a deep curiosity about the case of Miss Jessica Ziners, but unlike many, I have a lovesick son bothering me for information."

Marcus nearly did a spit-take with his tea. "You're joshing me! Severus? Isn't he a quiet, shy, proper young gentleman? And he likes Jessica? Jessica Ziners? The American loud mouth smart ass?"

Michael gave a slight smile. "I've met Miss Ziners but only briefly. She sounds like her mother though."

Marcus nodded. "Yes, she is. A lot like her but different. She almost takes her mother to a severe…and I hate to say it, but darker level."

"Madeline with a definite lining of Jeffrey then," Michael surmised.

Marcus nodded, setting his tea down.

Michael was quiet a moment before saying, "I can tell that Severus is a bit taken with her. Maybe it is true what they say, that opposites attract."

Marcus chuckled before his laugh soon quieted. "Pardon my self-indulgence for a moment, but if Severus and Jessica ever married and had children…how would that affect the legend of the Mighty Bloods?"

He could see that Michael was surprised by that thought. After a moment of pondering, he spoke quietly, "I am unsure, but it would be interesting."

Marcus nodded.

"But to move on – the point of my visit. I do not suppose you would be willing to tell me anything about the Ziners case."

Marcus sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I shouldn't. Truth is, I don't know too much. I'm just a contact through which those who are to supervise Jessica at Hogwarts go through."

"Do you know if the investigation is complete back in the States?"

Marcus was quiet for a second before he shook his head. "No, it's not. They still have yet to question Jessica."

Michael gave him a surprised look. "They haven't questioned her yet?"

Marcus shook his head. "But, to be honest, I don't think it would matter when Riley questioned her. She wouldn't have said anything on Christmas Day, and I'll be surprised if she says anything when she's questioned."

"Why will you be surprised?"

"As we said before, Jessica is like her mother. Do you remember the night Maddie got us all out at Hogwarts? She wasn't physically frantic, but we saw the craze in her eyes. When questioned, her voice was even, her responses spur of the moment but calm, almost practiced lies. She looked us in the eyes and lied believably. The only reason none of us believed her was that the three of us are too practiced in the art of deceit. And there was the fact that she wanted to activate the cloak to make Hogwarts the safe haven from the heir of Slytherin, whoever they might be. But Maddie never even made an attempt at letting us know anything, actually convincing us that night to let her go. Any time afterwards, she literally pretended as though nothing had occurred.

"Jessica's like her mother. She will not ask for help. This is evidenced by the fact though she is strong enough to try to control her own destiny despite an abusive father, she practiced to murder and subsequently followed through on the murder of her father when her brother's life was in grave danger – this proves that Jessica is willing to try and control her own destiny _by herself_. No matter the danger, Jessica is unwilling to ask for help."

Michael was quiet a second before he spoke in a low voice, "Might she still be protecting the heir of Slytherin?"

Marcus paused a long moment.

When Marcus didn't respond, Michael said, "And, along those lines, I was thinking. Have you ever thought about the possibility that…that this Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin? Everyone says that the Slytherins know of this Voldemort, including and especially Jessica. At least, that's what Salazar keeps telling me. Anyway," Michael shook his head, "What if that's what Jessica is looking at? What if Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin? I mean, come on. Albus Dumbledore destroyed Grindelwald. They say he's the greatest wizard of all time. And Voldemort…he could be the one in the night. The one that the...you know…speaks of."

Marcus remained silent for a long time. He had lied to Michael when he said Madeline had always pretended that nothing had happened. There was one moment, the next day, when Marcus had backed out of Michael's, Gina's, and his agreement not to approach Madeline right away. He had followed her back to America the next morning at Brittany's urging. And at Marcus' own bad feeling. There was one second in time when they were alone and one second in time where Madeline hadn't pretended. And one second in time Madeline spoke, her voice a desperate, harsh whisper:

_It's taken care of, Marcus. The threat is gone._

It had unsettled Marcus. The rushed, almost but not quite frightened look in Madeline's eyes. The harsh, desperate whisper. It had unsettled Marcus. Now that he knew Jeffery was an abuser, he knew that Maddie had waited for her husband to exit the room. Maybe it had been taken care of. Maybe the threat had been taken care of. The threat of the heir of Slytherin, that is. But since they didn't know how to remove the cloak, the cloak had stayed in place. Probably a good idea.

Marcus shook his head. "I don't think so," he said on a sigh. "I don't think that Jessica is still protecting the heir of Slytherin. And I don't think he's Voldemort."

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"Oh, dang it!"

Casey listened as the boy in the next bed sneezed into his book again. When he tried to wipe off his nose and the book with his blanket, Casey threw his own box of Kleenex at the boy.

"Thanks," he mumbled, his voice hoarse. He started to cough again.

Casey looked curiously at him. "I don't remember you from the Sorting," he said.

"You wouldn't," the boy replied. "I'm…I'm…," he sneezed and took a second to wipe his nose with the Kleenex, "My name is Nick Steimer, Ravenclaw. I missed the Sorting because my mom died the night before I was to leave. I was sorted a couple of days later."

Casey frowned. "Sorry about that. My name is Casey Ziners, Slytherin."

"I know who you are," Nick growled, his eyes remaining on his book."

"You're one of them," Casey replied angrily, looking back the other way.

"I'm one of what?" Nick asked, his face still in his book.

"I'm a Slytherin, therefore I am evil. My sister and I planned the murder of our father and carried it out with glee. One of _those_."

"If it matters to you, I am not one of those. I know who you are because of that situation, but I don't care about it all that much to tell you the truth. I have more important things to think about. Like trying to get this damn Transfiguration paper done when I feel like I'm going to die from this cold."

Casey turned his head to Nick. "Transfiguration?" he asked.

Nick glanced at him and nodded.

"I've already…" Casey trailed off.

When he never continued, Nick briefly looked at him. "You've already what?" he asked, a bit angrily.

When Casey didn't responded, Nick looked back at him. He started to growl something nasty at him but stopped when Casey's arm dropped limply off the bed.

"Ziners?" Nick asked, his voice getting louder. "Ziners?"

Suddenly, Casey looked back at him. "What?" he asked as though nothing had just happened.

"You were sort of gone there for a moment."

Casey was silent a second before he replied. "Oh…sorry. That kind of happens now…every once in awhile, I sort of zone. It's from the…the Cruciatus." He looked back at Nick. "What were we talking about?"

Nick looked unsure, but he answered, "Transfiguration. I'm working on my Transfiguration paper and having problems because of…of…" Nick sneezed again. "Because of this," Nick gestured to his running nose.

"Oh, yeah. I've already finished the Transfiguration paper. I can help you. I can…," Casey glanced towards Pomfrey's open office door, "…you know, explain it to you so you don't have to…," Casey shrugged, a grin spreading across his face, "…read it word for word."  
Nick started to smile before he looked suspicious. "Did I tell you that I'm a Ravenclaw?"  
"Do I look like I care?" Casey sighed. "Seriously, I know how hard it is to work when you're sick. Just think of it this way, I rub your back, you rub mine."

The corner of Nick's mouth turned up in a smirk. "So I'll owe you one?"  
"Can't hurt to have a favor waiting from a Ravenclaw," Casey smiled.

Nick glanced at Pomfrey's open office door again before turning back to Casey. He nodded quickly. Casey laughed before grabbing his own Transfiguration textbook from the table by his bed.

"Where have you gotten to?" Casey asked, opening his book.

Nick answered with a laugh before shaking his head, "Whoever thought I would be getting help from a Slytherin?"

"The same person who would suspect that a Slytherin would give help to a Ravenclaw," Casey replied passively before casting Nick a quick look. "Stranger things have happened and do happen in this building, with our fellow students. Like you wouldn't believe that Gryffindors and Slytherins would ever get along, would you? I imagine that you might before we're done with this building."

As the kids started into the Transfiguration, they never realized that beyond Casey's curtain, at the door of the Hospital Ward, Gary Rum and Albus Dumbledore were turning to leave.

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"Strange happenings in this school," Gary murmured to his friend as they walked away from the Hospital Ward. "An 11-year old Slytherin philosopher."

"Helping a Ravenclaw student," Albus added. "The Ziners children are not held down by the same rules as the rest of us, it appears."

Gary sighed but didn't say anything.

Albus looked down at Gary, for his friend stood much shorter than him. "Something troubles you, Gary."

"Many things trouble me at all times. If I had only retired four years ago like I had originally planned. Thirty years to teach. I had it planned from the first day. But ten more years couldn't hurt, I thought. I don't even like teaching," Gary shook his head.

Albus suddenly realized something. He remembered when Gary's time limit had come. He hadn't even debated it at the time. He just kept on teaching. That had not been like Gary. Something was keeping Gary here, and it wasn't the teaching. He knew that his friend spoke the truth when he said that he did not like teaching all that much.

Ten years past the promised year to end his teaching career. What was he waiting for? What ended ten years after the promised date?

Jessica Ziners career at Hogwarts.

Gary wasn't the kind to easily give a gift of his time or his protection to anyone. Why to this girl?

Albus was unsure of the answer to that, but he did know something. Gary was never going to give her secret up. And he was never going to give her up either. He was going to protect her with his life.

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Tatianna Melovic carefully balanced the pile of folders she was carrying, along with a cup of coffee. She had shut the door and turned before she realized she wasn't alone in her office.

"Vince," she breathed. "You scared me." He was sitting behind her desk, his feet propped, a file on his lap.

"I've been told that I have that effect on people," Vince replied dryly. He was right. Not a conventionally handsome man, Vince was more of a presence. His presence …it was all in his eyes. They were so clear that they drew you to stare at them until you could figure out their color. They were a green, Tatianna knew from being drawn in herself, and hypnotic. Springtime colors, yet not. His eyes always reminded her of springtime creeping in on a particularly bad winter. There was a hardness and a hopefulness at war in those eyes, proving that Grindelwald had had an effect on Vince but he hadn't totally destroyed him.

Tatianna knew he had had a sorted past before he had asked her out. She also knew he had turned against that past in order to fight it. And that was why she had said yes.

It was ironic really. She and Vince had been well suited for each other. He had made her laugh. She had made him smile. Both were hard workers, the best at whatever they did. Both dedicated and fearless. And in that dedication and in Vince's past – things that had initially attracted her to him – they had quickly found conflict. She was by the book, a book that Vince only used as it suited him. She slowly learned that Vince was right on a rare occasion, something she was currently investigating with these Dark Operators. And with this Miss Ziners.

But back to the point of Vince's visit. Herein lied another irony – Tatianna was depending on Vince's "Slytherins and real people live by a set of different laws" philosophy. She needed someone who knew the side of the fence that Tatianna suspected Miss Ziners was on. She had come to learn that in Vince's old world, all was not as it seemed and sometimes the good had to survive by rather desperate means.

"He's good," Vince murmured to the file in his lap.

"What are you reading?" Tatianna asked, gesturing for Vince to take the visitor's chair. He did, his eyes not leaving the file as he walked around and plopped on the visitor's seat.

"Mr. Haderson's report. It's damn near perfect. Him and the Devil dance well. That's what my father would say. Got to know how the Devil steps, so he can dance with him." Vince gave a sardonic chuckle. "But it's ironic, he would say. Dancing is relatively symmetric, so that means that the devil and his dance partner are mirror images of each other.

"Got to be careful though. Once you step on the devil's toes, you either merge with your mirror image or your mirror image kills you." Vince grunted, shaking his head at the report. "He dances with the devil _really_ well."

Sparing a quick look at Tatianna, he said, "But I've heard the name Haderson before. His first wasn't Riley though."

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A half a world away, Jessica stopped in the doorway to the Hospital Ward at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

_In her mind, I'm the enemy_, Riley reminded himself. _And, in reality, I am the enemy._

"Come in, Jessica," Rohan said, almost impatiently.

Jessica took a slow step into the ward before regaining her previous gait. She was by Casey's bedside in a matter of seconds. The siblings exchanged a look that spoke higher volumes than either Riley or Rohan had a perception of, Riley was sure.

When Jessica looked back at Riley and Rohan, her eyes were a strange mix of green, blue, and a stormy grey, green being by far the most prominent color.

"How long have you been waiting to question us?" Jessica asked Riley.

"Awhile," he replied quietly.

"Why didn't you question us…" here, Jessica glanced at Casey, "I mean me…at least…on Christmas day?"

Riley and Rohan exchanged a look before Riley inquired what was on both their minds, "Jessica, do you remember what happened after you came to Hogwarts on Christmas Day?"

Jessica thought a second before cocking her head. "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

"You tried to kill yourself," Rohan told her.

She gave him a look before recognition suddenly hit her. "Oh, yeah," she responded lamely. "And then Severus bewitched me into sleep."

Rohan nodded at the girl.

"So," Jessica turned to Riley as she suddenly looked uncomfortable. "How'd you want to do this? Question us together? Or separately?"

"Separately," Riley replied, his voice still soft. "In Madam Pomfrey's office."

Jessica looked at her brother again. After a second, he looked towards Madam Pomfrey's office. After but a short spell, he looked back at his sister. Jessica looked back at Riley and nodded.

Rohan laughed softly, "In the short time I've known you two, you've put a whole new meaning on silent communication. There are times I swear you two are actually having conversations without even opening your mouths."

They both gave him weak smiles.

"Let's go," Jessica said leading the way to Madam Pomfrey's office. She stopped just outside the door though and looked at a waiting chair against the wall a door width away from the door. She kept looking to her right as she walked in.

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"His father was Mathew Haderson," Tatianna replied back in her office at the Department of Magic in America.

"Mathew Haderson, Mathew Haderson." Vince mulled over the name a second before giving Tatianna a surprised look. "That chap whose wife was murdered a few days before he was?"  
Tatianna nodded.

Vince looked in deep thought for a few seconds before nodding to himself and grunting as he shifted in his chair, his eyes looking away from Tatianna during that time period. She surmised that he was remembering those particular murders from a different angle.

After a moment in silence, Vince looked at the report again

He murmured in thought. "He's the orphan of a respected Auror. Damn good himself, probably better than his father. Ten-Marked Investigator. Level Black Commander. And why is it that you're worried about the possible verdict of Mr. Haderson's investigation?"

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As soon as they were inside Madam Pomfrey's office, Casey counted to fifty. Once he reached that number, he turned to Rohan.

"Can I sit in the waiting chair over by Pomfrey's office? I figure that if I make it over there, I'll save time and have plenty of time to catch my breath before my interrogation."

Rohan chuckled over the use of the word interrogation. "Sure, you can," he said in response to Casey's question before starting to help him out of bed.

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"Because," Tatianna said impatiently, "When Mr. Haderson's parents died, he was six. He came to live with an ancient great-aunt on the Department ranch. Within the first week of his arrival, he was running to keep up with Daniel Montgomery's footfalls. He hasn't stopped since. And, if you don't know yet, Daniel Montgomery happens to be the uncle of our defendant."

"You think he's going to botch the investigation to make his idol happy?" Vince asked. Tatianna nodded. He snorted. "Have you met Daniel Montgomery yet?"  
Tatianna gave him a look. "_You know I have_. That's what Andorra Dumbledore was getting at with me too."

"That's because it's true. The only reason Daniel Montgomery or his team hasn't lost one of their members to a power trip is because Daniel Montgomery holds honor and truth above his own breath and expects and will accept no less from his team. Even at the expense of his own niece.

"But if you need more evidence – Riley Haderson did indeed conclude that Miss Ziners did premeditate the murder. It would have been a hell of a lot easier and a more sure-fire way to get Miss Ziners off if he hadn't concluded that. Plus, no one would have been the wiser. The only thing connecting Miss Ziners to premeditation was that wand."

"He was with Mark Halmer, another Auror and fellow Montgomery worshipper, when he did the test. Mark could hold him to it."

"Not really. Even if Mark would have wanted the straight-and-narrow while Riley did not, Riley could have easily fixed that."

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Inside Pomfrey's office, Jessica moved a chair next to the wall, sat, leaned back, and rested nearly her whole left arm along the wall to her side earning herself an odd look from Riley.

"More comfortable," she murmured.

He sighed as he nodded. As he sat in the other visitor's chair across from Pomfrey's desk, he coached himself. He set the things he was carrying on the desk next to him and set the Recording Quote quill up on the parchment he had carried in. Recording Quotes was a quill that would record everything said in the room. It was truly a formality, especially for the legal proceeding. Riley had a tendency to remember interviews. As he looked across the room at Jessica, he had a feeling he would never forget this one.

"Please state your full name," he murmured. When she gave him a curious look, he nodded towards the quill and parchment. "For the record," he explained.

"Jessica Celerina Elizabeth Madeline Montgomery Ziners."

"Your age and birth date too."

"Twelve years old. August 6, 1960."

"Will you please state your father's name?" When she gave him another look, he nodded towards the parchment again.

"Jeffery Casey Andrew Remington Birch Ziners. And, in case you were wondering, he was forty-four years old, born July 8, 1928."

Riley nodded.

"And your brother?"

"Casey Jackson Riley Daniel Jeffery Tom Salazar Marvolo Montgomery Ziners. Age eleven, born August 6, 1961."

"And where do you attend school?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"And your brother? Where does he attend school?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Where do you live when you're not at school?"

"Briana Manor, American Department of Magic. I lived there with my father, mother, and brother until my mother's death almost six years ago. Then I just lived there with my father and brother."

"Was it a nice home to live in?"

Jessica snorted and gave Riley a look like he was crazy.

Riley's face never changed expression. "Please answer the question…" he was about to say 'Jessica', but he held back at the last second. He probably should say 'Miss Ziners', but he couldn't do that. He just couldn't do that. Not yet. He would have to when they were at trial, just to show some impartiality to Melovic, whom he was sure would be watching closely. But right now, looking at the girl he use to joke around with, the girl he treated like a little sister and thought of in the same manner, right now, he couldn't treat her to her face like an object of his investigation.

It was like she existed now in his mind as two people. There was a Jessica he once knew…or thought he knew…now there was this other Jessica. He had learned about this in training and had experienced it before. It was symptomatic of knowing someone, then finding out in a very gruesome way what they were capable of. He was, in a way, mourning Jessica.

"It was," she said, drawing Riley back to the situation, "a tense household to live in." Suddenly, Jessica stopped, her head against the wall, her hand resting against the wall beside her seat. Just as suddenly as she stopped, she started again, "We were never to disturb Dad. Even when we were suppose to be around him, he would…on a whim……sometimes he just looked for something wrong to……to get mad about."

"What would he do when he got mad?"

Jessica took a deep breath. "Things," she muttered.

"What things?" Riley pressed.

Jessica's eyes cast down as she took a minute to answer. Riley let her have her time. When she finally looked up, she looked like she wanted…needed to cry. But she didn't.

"He…it was usually Strickiomus. Sometimes it was something else, like a Bluebell flame or something of the sort. If it could hurt us, it was used."

"What was the worse spell he ever used?"

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Vince grabbed the file second to the top on the corner of Tatianna's desk and tossed it to her, as he continued to explain why he thought Riley was a good Auror for the Ziners investigation. "The interrogation of Rick Grens took place just before the incident. It's law – a law that Mark Halmer followed that day – that after a high-level, high intensity interrogation, he has to give up his wand for 12 hours. Halmer turned it in. Haderson turned his in too but took it out for the investigation of Mr. Ziners' death. He turned it in after going to Hogwarts to examine Miss Ziners' wand. So, in that room alone with Halmer, Mr. Haderson had two wands and Mr. Halmer had none. A Memory Charm would have hit the spot if Mr. Haderson had felt possessed by a strong bit of loyalty to Mr. Montgomery. And if Halmer would have been on board with setting up the Ziners investigation to go to Miss Ziners' favor, we wouldn't have the premeditation charge."

"How long have you been in my office anyway?" Tatianna asked with exasperation.

Vince shrugged. "You had just left for a meeting with the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"That was at eight this morning!"

Vince shrugged. It was one p.m. now. "It gave me time to read some things here and asks some questions around."

"How did you even get in here?" Tatianna asked.

"Louise Isabelle Trivers," Vince said with a nod outside her office. "Your secretary. Louise is a native of England." When he finished that last off in a whisper, he knew she knew. He knew Louise from his Grindelwald days.

"Can she be trusted?" Tatianna asked with a tentative look towards the outside of her office.

With a serious voice, Vince said, "No, she cannot. She's been trying for a long time now to bring Grindelwald back to life in her drawers."

Tatianna glared at him, causing him to grin. "She can be trusted. Did you see her? She was just a wee child when it all happened. I know her adopted parents real well. They talk about it with her, and she understands how it was, and she's good about it." Suddenly, Vince's grin turned to a prideful one. "I'm her godfather actually."

Tatianna rolled her eyes and shook her head at him, but he could see her smile.

"You don't laugh anymore," Vince commented suddenly, his voice quiet. "Really laugh."

"Did I ever laugh?" she asked.

"At one time you did…with me," he commented quietly.

Tatianna couldn't handle his look, so she nodded towards the file still in his lap. "What do you think of Miss Ziners?"

"She's not the kind to murder without just cause."

"And how did you come to this conclusion?" she asked skeptically.

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"The Cruciatus Curse," Jessica responded quietly after a pause. She looked away when she said it. "The worse wasn't merely a Cruciatus Curse, and he didn't actually perform it the worst time. The worst time was when he made Casey use the curse on me. Casey cried for days after that. I healed, but Casey never did."

"What did your father do exactly? How did he make Casey do that?"

Jessica's eyes spun to Riley's eyes, an anger there that Riley knew was in there the day she had killed Jeffery. It was an anger to protect her brother no matter the cost to herself. "He didn't want to do it. He would have rather died. But I told him to just do it. Dad is willing to do a lot more. He would do things you can't even imagine. As long as I could predict what he was planning, we were all right. If he wanted Casey to do things, Casey should do them. We didn't like him, but when Dad was happy, things were controllable. If the curse made Dad happy, there you go."

Riley ignored the tone in her voice and continued, "Was there a reason your father was angry that day?"

Jessica opened her mouth but shut it suddenly. She opened it but two seconds later. "Casey had done something…I don't really remember. It was something clumsy. Dad hated that more than anything else. Casey was his son, and he was suppose to be proud of his son. His son was suppose to be the spitting image of him, he told me once. And Casey's clumsiness marred that image. It pissed Dad off like nothing else did. He didn't understand Casey. There were a few times that Dad didn't even waste time with the wand. He just smacked him." Jessica took a deep breath, shaking her head and looking down at her feet. They were hanging a little bit because she was leaning back in her chair. After a moment, she continued, but her eyes remained on her feet. "But that day, Casey's offense wasn't as bad as mine was. I eavesdropped. I knew better than to do that. That was the one thing Dad hated more than Casey's clumsiness."

Jessica looked up again, her face facing Riley's but her eyes were looking over his shoulder.

"He called us into his office. It was this last summer. We were doing some summer studying in the kitchen." Jessica grinned a little here. "That was our safe zone. It was the one room Dad wouldn't go into. That was for the servants and the servants only, he said, but when we were in there, we were out of his hair. He liked it better that way." She frowned. "Not that he didn't have his spies there. Those dumbass house elves. We had those loyal to us, but they were no match for those loyal to Dad." She shook her head, her eyes finally straying back to Riley's, but they left almost immediately, going over his other shoulder this time. "We went in and bent our heads, waiting for our punishment. Father told us our crimes, and then delivered our sentence. Casey didn't want to do it, but I told him he had to. When Father beat him, it was worse than when he beat me.

"Before he started, I tried to stop him. I was ready to grab my wand, but Father caught me before I got to my wand. He took my wand and Casey's wand away.

"After the punishment – I don't remember it – the house elves brought me to my room like they always did. Father ordered them not to heal either of us. Whenever we were sent to our rooms, it was so we could live out our wounds for that sentence in the rooms. It was so we could live with the hurting. It was to teach us what disobedience felt like."

"How regular were the beatings?" Riley asked next.

"Depended on what was going on at the time. If he was stressed out, it happened a lot. If he was really happy, it was less but still frequent. Sometimes, it was just a smack. Sometimes, he just handled Casey roughly. One time, he grabbed Casey by the collar and held him high up against the wall before yelling at him. Father spit in Casey's face that time." Suddenly, Jessica turned to Riley, a grin on her face. "I spit on Dad after he put Case down."

She was expecting a return grin Riley knew, but he didn't return it. He couldn't. This was a thin line – him working on Jessica's case – and he wasn't about to dance on that line.

"Did he do something to you after you spit on him?"

Jessica immediately frowned and looked away. She nodded but didn't respond.

"What did he do?" Riley pressed.

"Cruciatus Curse. Middle of the kitchen floor. When he was done, I remember Uncle Jonathon laughing at me. He said I was like a fish out of water, flopping around on the kitchen floor. I couldn't respond. I wanted to! But every time I tried to move my mouth, I kept spitting out blood."

Riley struggled not to let emotion come across his face. He remembered with pleasure yelling at the former Secretary of Magic. He wished that it had been a straight Dark Operators operation and the interrogation had taken place outside the Department. Riley fantasized about smashing that idiot's face into something hard.

Finally, he took a deep breath though and said, "When did this incident occur?"

Jessica paused a moment in thought before finally bringing her eyes back to Riley. "Right before I went to the Weasley's before my first year at Hogwarts."

The wounds that Molly Weasley had noticed, Riley noted. Marcus had told him about those. This would fit the time frame.

"You've described many incidents where Casey was the main one being punished. Were those more frequent than when you had committed what your father considered to be infractions bad enough to receive a beating?"

Jessica looked away from Riley and took a long time to answer. Riley waited patiently.

"There were times…" she finally said, "there were times I was the one receiving the beatings for something I did. It was weird that one time where Casey had to give me the punishment. Father had never done anything like that before. Normally I got away from the beatings. He was…he was usually picking on Casey. Not that I didn't deserve it," she said with disgust.

"Did he ever state the reason he didn't punish you as much as Casey?"

Jessica made a snort of disgust as she looked back at Riley, her eyes dark, her voice angry, "Because I was Jessica," she growled. "I was the queen, the one that shouldn't be damaged except by—" she stopped so suddenly Riley almost jumped. He noticed her hand, flat against the wall, almost attempt to grab the wall. She waited a moment, her eyes taking a spot over Riley's shoulder but her mind clearly elsewhere.

Finally, her eyes moved, moving down to an indiscriminate spot around Riley's knees. When she spoke again, the anger was less present, the voice less forceful, "Except under the most extreme of circumstances," she continued. "I usually only got beatings when I got in the way of him beating Casey."

Riley sighed, looking at the parchment as it paused. He finally looked back at Jessica and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I want to back up for a second. I asked you earlier what the worse spell your father ever used was. I want to now ask you, what was the worst punishment he ever gave you or Casey or the both of you?"

Jessica went completely still. Her feet, which had been swinging the whole interview, even stopped. Her eyes gradually made their way back to Riley's.

And he knew that she knew what he had just asked.

To be continued…


	12. The Lie

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura **12: The Lie**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

Sorry that I had to take the chapters down. This website's being annoying about my scene separators. Hopefully, with the new seperators, it won't be such a pain.

I know that there are two quotes. This was a hard chapter to find the appropriate quote for. I found lots of good quotes. I just needed to find a quote to fit it precisely. What resulted were two different quotes.

Where we are on the timeline: near the end of the school year, about within the last month and a half

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't."

Mark Twain

"Another ditch in the road

Keep moving

Another stop sign

You keep moving on

…

Silent fortress built to last"

"Two Beds and a Coffee Machine" sung by Savage Garden

Jessica knew exactly what he had just asked her. She knew that he knew the answer to that question – the truth. He could see it in her eyes. The sudden recognition. And Riley knew that she also knew that she had to say the answer. He wouldn't let her get away with less.

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She suddenly looked terrified. But she finally found her voice.

"How did you find out?" she asked quietly.

Riley opened his mouth automatically to answer but stopped a second before giving in to reflex. He closed his mouth before opening it again. "How did I find out what?" he asked.

Jessica started to respond but shook her head. She seemed to have an argument with herself before saying, "It was the time when Casey had to give me the Cruciatus Curse," she said angrily.

"Jessica, if you start lying to me now—"

"Fine!" she said. "Fine, I will!" She then suddenly looked up at Riley as though she had forgotten he was in the room. "It was my fault that time," she said quickly. "If I just would have been willing to keep my mouth shut, it wouldn't have happened. Casey told me that it isn't my fault, but it is." She sighed and shook her head. Her eyes had gone to her lap when she had started speaking, and they stayed there now. "I was seven years old. Mom and I couldn't talk a whole hell of a lot without someone spying on us, so we used this special paper to write notes. After Mom read a note I had written, the words disappeared. The same happened after I read notes that Mom wrote to me."

"Clearing Paper," Riley said. It had been an invention of Madeline's, and she had owned the only copies of it, sparingly giving some to the Dark Operators. He imagined more existed, but Madeline had hid a lot of inventions she didn't particularly want to release.

Jessica nodded, glancing at him briefly before resuming her aimless stare. "It was a perfect system. I learned to write better just to write more to Mom. Casey was good at reading even then. And Mom was careful to use words we knew and understood. I told Mom that I was going to tell Uncle Danny about the beatings. We had gotten beatings before, but, at that time, Father mainly focused on Mom. He didn't really beat her a lot, but he mainly beat her. When he hurt us, it was usually non-magical stuff then.

"Anyway, I told Mom that I was going to tell Uncle Danny. Dad was going to be gone one night, and I figured I could get some of the Montgomery house elves to create a diversion. I was not even near the front door when I discovered him." Jessica paused, but Riley let her have a minute. She continued finally, "Gramey, one of the Montgomery house elves, was lying dead. Dad was standing behind him, holding Mom's arm. He smiled at me, and I knew that he had found out. He took me and Mom to his study. Casey was already there. He was confused when we came in because I hadn't told him that I was planning to tell Uncle Danny. That night, Dad almost killed Casey." Jessica shook her head on a sigh. "I should have learned then. Dad was letting Mom and me know what would happen if we tried to break away from him. But I didn't learn my lesson that night."

Jessica looked back up at Riley. "Six months later I made it to the door before he grabbed me by the collar. He brought me to Mom's lab. Again, Casey was already there. And so was Mom." Jessica's voice became choked, and she said in a whisper, "She was tied to one of her tables." She stopped then, her eyes staying in the same spot, her feet not moving. A regular witch or wizard would have said that she had completely stopped moving for that time, but Riley wasn't a regular wizard. She was grinding her teeth, he could see. It was such a slight movement that he couldn't even hear it, but he could watch her jawbone moving.

The silence stretched on for five minutes before Riley spoke again. "Jessica, I need to hear what happened."

She looked up at him in surprise. He had pulled her away from the memory of that day. Finally, she spoke, her eyes remaining on Riley's, her left hand pressed firmly against the wall, her voice deeper than usual but even, "He murdered Mom the same way he tried to with Casey six months before that and on this last Christmas Day. Father isn't a murderer but a banker, but after that day, I knew what he was willing to do to shut me up." Jessica glanced away for the briefest of moments, her hand moving on the wall but still remaining connected to it. "He made us watch as he killed her." Her voice broke for a second, and Riley saw her left hand make a fist as she closed her eyes and got a hold of herself. She continued, "As...as he got the room ready for you and Uncle Danny, he told us why it had happened. If I hadn't been so intent on telling Uncle Danny things, Mommy would still be alive." Jessica's voice changed in the next heartbeat, and it was a voice that was strictly Montgomery, a voice that was frighteningly like Daniel's. It was a voice of deadly determination, "That day, I promised myself I wouldn't make that mistake ever again."

She took a deep breath, her eyes glancing around the room for a minute as though she just realized that they were there. When she spoke again, her eyes were off to Riley's own left. "Father made me keep the shirt that I had been wearing that day." Her hand gripped the wall tighter before her voice got lower again, "He made me take it off in the lab, before…before he exploded that caldron. He rubbed it over Mom's wounds. He made me put it on again, under my robes. I remember when you came in, Riley. I was crying, and when you picked me up, I could feel the wetness of the blood clinging to me."

Riley remembered that she had wanted to go to her bedroom, but Jeffery had insisted that they go to Daniel's right away – where they had spent the night. Jessica's hadn't had any clothes, and Jeffery kept sidestepping Daniel's offer of clothes for the kids. Riley fought from becoming sick at the thought. Jessica had to sleep in her robe and that bloody t-shirt all night long…

"After that day, Father would make me lie in bed sometimes and put the shirt over my face. I would have to lie for hours like that. I decided that I couldn't tell Uncle Danny, but I could do something. That's when I decided how I was going to kill Father."

"How old were you when you first decided that you were going to kill him?"

"Seven. It was the night Mom was killed."

"How old were you when you decided how you were going to do it?"

"Eight. It was the day you guys closed the investigation on Mom's death. As you were talking to Father, he made me stay in my room with the shirt over my head."

"Why didn't you kill him when you first got a wand?"

Jessica didn't appear to have an answer for that one. After a minute, she shrugged. "I really don't know."

Riley took a second before asking, "You and Casey were both away from your father for periods of time. Why didn't you say anything then, when you were both safe?"

Jessica's hand flexed on the wall again. After a moment, she said, "As one of Father's business partners said, 'Father has lots of friends.'"

"What do you interpret that as meaning?" Riley asked.

"What does 'interpret' mean?"

Riley paused a second before rephrasing his question, "What did you think your dad's business partner meant by 'Father has lots of friends.'"

"Father used me and Casey to control what Mom did. He used Mom and Casey to control what I did. When I broke the rules, he killed Mom. After that, he beat or threatened to beat or kill Casey to control what I did. Even if you had gotten Dad in jail before he could have hurt me or Casey, Dad had friends who would hurt or kill us. And not even just us. There was you, there was Uncle Danny, and then there was Andorra. And then there was a lot more when we started going to Hogwarts. And Dad's friends, as this guy told me, didn't like to always use the simple Killing Curse. He said that there were funnier ways to kill people."

"What was the name of this business partner of your father's?"

Jessica's hand clenched tighter to the wall. "I think…I think it was something like Mark…or Mike…or Matt. Something that started with an 'M'. I don't remember his last name."

"Do you remember any of your dad's business partners?"

Jessica thought a moment before shaking her head. "Other than Lily Evans' parents, no."

"Isn't Lily Evans a Muggle-born witch?"

Jessica nodded.

"Your father invested in Muggle businesses?" Riley asked in surprise.

Jessica nodded. "Not a lot but money was money, he said." But even as she spoke the words, she got a confused look on her face. She stated what she was thinking after a minute of contemplation, "Come to think of it, it was odd that Dad was okay that I was friends with a mud…ggle-born." Riley knew what she had been about to say, especially when she gave him a nervous glance, but she moved on quickly, probably in hopes to throw him off from noticing. "But I guess I don't have to worry anymore about wondering what he was up to there because he can't do anything now." But Jessica didn't look convinced that she had to stop worrying.

"Do you remember any business partners or friends of your dad that hung around a lot more than the rest?" Riley knew he was shooting the dark, but he couldn't directly ask if Jessica knew who Lord Voldemort was. At least he couldn't ask that yet.

Again, Jessica thought a minute before shaking her head. "No. Dad usually didn't want us around when his friends or business partners were there. We had to eat a few meals with them and go to a few parties, but I don't remember anyone in particular. There were lots of names. They were hard to remember."

Riley's nod was disappointed, but he moved on.

"Let's move on to this last Christmas. Starting with waking up, go through what happened."

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Vince took a deep breath before uttering the lie he had promised Gary. Vince still had feelings for Tatianna, deep feelings, but he had a loyalty to Gary that had run so deep for so long it was as much a part of him as his own heart. It was more than a life debt; it was a soul debt. And so Vince lied to probably the only person he would have normally hesitated to lie to. And even though she knew he was going to probably lie to her, he still didn't like doing it.

"She's extremely bright. Gets good grades. Has a problem keeping quiet in class, but she has nothing telling her not to be cocky. Except teachers. That's not only normal of a Slytherin but of a girl in her stature. She's a pretty girl with a family inheritance more than the size of the Malfoy's. Her bloodlines are of the purest form. Her uncle may be an Auror – something Slytherins don't usually look on as a worthy profession – but her father was a big man with the parents of the other children. She can hold her own without a wand too."

"But?" Tatianna asked when Vince grew silent and looked off to his right, into space.

"She's been ousted as the abused kid. Even though there was that, a Slytherin – a follower of Grindelwald – would not have desired death immediately afterward. I talked with Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall to some great lengths about it. She was so intent on death that she fought tooth and nail with an uncle who not only has the size and strength but the power to keep her safe and not abuse her. And, if she was leaning towards a darker standing, this Voldemort more than likely wouldn't mourn the loss of Jeffery too long, especially if the result was having a 12-year old willing to murder, especially if she came with a brother that could be used to control her."

"Guilt over murdering then," Tatianna dismissed.

"Guilt in part but not of the kind you speak, from my impression of the girl. And also the impression of Rohan Figg, her Healer. No, Miss Ziners wasn't trying to kill herself because of guilt. She was trying to kill herself because in that instant, that second before the murder where she had that choice – in that millisecond, Anna, Miss Ziners became her father. She realized that she had become her father when she realized what she did, and she couldn't handle that thought. She wanted to kill her father so she had to kill what he left – her soul, a soul she thought to be tainted by his evil.

"She was a girl merely caught up in something she didn't understand and probably never will."

"But what about Haderson's conclusion on Jeffery Ziners' connection to Lord Voldemort? If Jessica Ziners is as smart as they say, I imagine she would have noticed something. Yet, she still has yet to come forward on this Voldemort."

"Voldemort probably wouldn't have taken a chance on Jessica Ziners. My guess is Jeffrey knew his daughter wouldn't go for it and kept her out of the loop using her brother."

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"I had a hard time sleeping, so I didn't wake up until ten o'clock. We can't sleep later than that or Dad gets mad. Malf, one of the house elves, woke me up at Casey's order. I went downstairs and had breakfast in the kitchen. Eggs and sausages. And orange juice."

"Did you eat breakfast alone?"

Jessica nodded. "Father had had breakfast at 7 and Casey at 8. We usually eat breakfast alone if we're not going somewhere or doing something that day."

"Were you at the table alone?"

Jessica looked back at Riley. She seemed surprised that he had caught her.

Finally, she shook her head. "No, Casey sat with me. We hadn't seen Uncle Danny at all, and it was putting Father in a mood. It bugged Father if he didn't see Uncle Danny regularly. Anyway, me and Case were trying to figure out what was going on with the department. Case and me…" she looked to be in a debate with herself before she finally said, "we also tried to figure out what we could do that day."

"Weren't you going to celebrate Christmas with your father?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, we were. We were just trying to figure out what we could do after that."

Riley nodded, though he was still curious about that statement. But Jessica gave him little time to ponder as she moved on.

"After breakfast, I went back upstairs to brush my teeth, take my shower, and get dressed. When I came back down, Father was ready to celebrate. He gave me a dictionary set of…darker spells. He knows I want to become an Auror, and he always tells me it's good to learn the other side…"

Riley nodded.

She continued, "He gave Casey a German Auror advanced textbook. Casey and I gave him a wristwatch."

When she paused, Riley asked, "What did you give Casey?"

She grinned. "Julius Caesar and King Lear."

Riley returned her grin. The boy had developed a certain attachment to Shakespearean plays.

"Casey got me a cape."

Riley gave her a smile but a questioning look.

"Okay, Lily got it but with Casey's money. Casey couldn't think of anything. It's a cool cape. It's dark green and velvet."

Riley nodded. "After you exchanged presents, what happened?"

Jessica sighed, looking off to the side again.

"Casey and I took a little walk, and then ate lunch at about one o'clock. Dad was planning to work in his office all day, so he didn't care. After we ate, we started into our summer homework." Her voice became soft. "We were very quiet that day. Everything had been setting Father off, every little noise. I remember Casey being funny and tip-toeing to get a glass of milk."

"You said that every little noise was setting your father off. Did you receive any beatings during your school break?" Riley's throat felt tight as he asked the question. The two Jessicas in his brain were merging for a moment in time. As he had laughed with his team members over the glee of their difficult captures, Jessica and Casey had lived in terror of making a noise not even a mile from where Riley was…and it was the very fact that they had to hide from everyone to make those very captures that had forced those kids to live in terror…

Jessica nodded. "Two beatings a piece." Suddenly, Jessica rubbed at her face. As she rubbed a line down her right cheek, Riley understood. She was remembering one of the beatings, possibly both. She had no clue she was even doing it, Riley imagined.

"And after you and Casey worked on your homework?" He asked.

"Me and Casey weren't even finished with our homework when I decided to be stupid."

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"What about her saying that something suspicious was going on in the house? What about her brother saying something?" Tatianna questioned.

"Easy. They didn't really know anything, and it was their dad. They didn't like him, but they loved him. It was their father, Anna. Nothing is more important than family to a Slytherin. Remember Pure Blood and all that crap, Anna? It's your family and that's the beginning _and_ end of it. You didn't say 'suspicions' to outsiders – and, when it came to Jeffrey Ziners, Daniel Montgomery was an outsider." Vince took a deep breath, realizing the direction he was accidentally traveling and decided to turn it around.

"Plus, Jessica's not going to take a chance after her mother was killed, if Haderson's right. And, after studying Jeffrey Ziners' file at the Ministry of Magic, I imagine the boy is right."

Tatianna gave Vince a look. "You got a hold of the Ministry's file on Ziners?"  
He shrugged. "What? You couldn't?"

"You know I couldn't!"

Vince gave her a wicked grin. "I guess you just have to know the right people."

Tatianna gave him another look, this one vicious. She had no idea that rather than scaring Vince, she was actually turning him on. But he knew better than to let her know that, so he decided he should tell her. However, he couldn't resist turning it up one more notch.

He grinned as he said in a mock shocked voice, "Tatianna Melovic doesn't know the right people at the Ministry of Magic? A former Unspeakable and the new Secretary of Magic doesn't know the right Unspeakables in the Ministry to get a hold of an Unspeakable file? How can this be?"  
It took all of Vince's self-control not to change the status of their relationship right there and then – by actions and not words – but he managed to keep still…to keep still what he could control at least – as he grinned and revealed, "It seems that Gina Longbottom felt a certain sense of gratitude towards myself for bringing back the remains of her deceased brother and husband from Mindel, Grindelwald's fanatic and delusional cohort who killed the two thinking they were hiding Grindelwald in their stockings or some other dumb thing. She also felt a bit appreciative of me bringing back Mindel while I was at it. I attempted to sweet talk her for a moment before she put me out of my misery by giving me a glimpse of the file."

"Gina Longbottom trusted you?"  
The question didn't offend Vince because he knew as much as Tatianna did that that question followed him closely. He nodded.

"You've got to remember that she watched me put my lovely ol' mum and pop out of business and kill my own brother, whom I had had hope for, in favor of saving the life of Clark Potter, the one man I hated more than my own father. She figured if I knew right from family, I could do the same for this kid."

"So, Haderson's right, you think? On everything from Madeline to Jeffrey Ziners' beating prior to his death?"

Vince nodded. "Yeah. I think that in one fell swoop, a 12-year old killed a child-abuser, a wife abuser, a murderer, probable mass murderer, and Lord Voldemort's banker."

"And Jessica Ziners didn't know of her father's connection to Voldemort?"

"She's a 12-year old, for goodness sakes, Tatianna! It's her father's business partners! Financial matters are not number one on her interests. And she probably knew better than to stick her nose in where it didn't belong."

"I seem to recall a story of some teenagers doing precisely that in the name of good," Tatianna said.

"Well, Grindelwald made no hesitation to involve us, and, in the beginning, there wasn't anything to worry about from his perspective. In the case of this girl, we can tell from the situation on Christmas Day that Jeffrey was using the slow murder of Casey as punishment for Jessica. This is proven by the marks on Jessica and the last spells in Jeffrey's wand. And, if Haderson is right, it's also proven by the mom's death. If Jessica's silence is such an issue to go to such lengths, they're going to keep as much away from her as possible."

"That's just it though, Vince. What did Jessica know that it was so important to keep her quiet about?"  
Vince was silent a moment before he replied quietly, "Maybe it was not what she knew but whom she knew?"

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"We heard some noises coming from Dad's study," Jessica continued. "Dad had been getting a regular visitor, and we knew that this visitor was making Father even more upset than Uncle Danny's disappearance. I wanted to find out who it was. And stupid Casey followed me!" She growled and shook her head, her hand remaining solid against the wall. "We started towards Father's study, but we had to wait a few minutes. Some of the house elves loyal to Dad were taking forever to walk down the hall. We didn't want them to see us because they would want to know where we were going. There was no reason we should be on that side of the house, and if they knew a visitor was there, they would be sure to keep us on the kitchen side of the house. By the time they got past and we got to Dad's study, the visitor had popped out of there. I got Case to stay behind as I peaked around the corner. Dad was just getting up from the floor and wiping himself off. I noticed he was bloody.

"I turned and motioned that we were going back. That's when Casey tripped over his shoelace. He fell into me, I fell into the statute, and the statute fell over onto the floor. It broke and alerted Father. He came out to see what the deal was. He found me and Casey and told us to come into his office.

"I remember when we first went to stand in his office. I noticed that I was standing on some blood. I looked up and saw that his hand was bloody and realized that I had been standing over where he had been kneeling." She sighed. "It was weird if you think about it." Here, she shook her head and looked down before looking back up, this time looking Riley directly in eyes. Riley noticed her press her hand and arm more firmly to the wall. "He told me that he couldn't stand it anymore. I kept and I kept disobeying him, and then I was eavesdropping again."

"Did he mention Casey in this too? He was obviously with you."

"You don't understand it yet, Riley," Jessica sighed, a defeated but compliant tone to her voice. "I'm Jessica, the first born daughter. For some reason, I mattered more to him than Casey. My obedience was, for some weird reason that I never understood…my obedience was more important than Casey's was." Jessica lifted her arm off the wall for just a second before she pressed it to the wall again.

"One real quick question before you continue," Riley said, "Did you have your wand with you, and did Casey have his with him?"

Jessica nodded. "After I bought my wand – and Casey did the same after buying his – I started to carry my wand every second of every day. I even slept with it."

"Why?"

"It was after Mom. I knew I couldn't tell Uncle Danny about what had happened. Father had threatened Casey's life the day Mom died, and I finally knew he would do it. I couldn't be responsible for another death, Ri. I just couldn't let it happen. There was only one way. I had to kill him." Jessica sighed and looked away. "I was even a chicken after that. I got my wand, but even before then, I knew how I was going to do it. The Slowing Jinx before the Killing Curse. I wanted to know that when I did it that Father would be able to fight back in a way. I wanted him to be facing me. I wanted him to know it was me and to know he could stop me. It was stupid really because if I had thought it through I would know that Dad really couldn't fight me with the Slowing Jinx on him. I would be faster." Jessica's voice went quiet but took on a scratchy quality which seemed to increase her volume from a hushed tone. "Even then, I couldn't do it. There had been a lot times in the last summer that I could have done it, and I almost did it once before, but Dad got my wand before I could do anything. I had been too chicken otherwise. But that day, when Dad turned to me, and I had to look him in the eyes…I couldn't do it. I raised my wand, but I didn't think I would say the words."

When she went completely silent, Riley asked, "What caused that to change by the time your wand came down?"

"I saw Casey. He was dead."

Riley was silent and the silence between the two stretched to merely encompass one minute, but it felt like an eternity to both. Finally, Riley spoke, "Jessica, Casey isn't dead."

Jessica glanced back at Riley, seemingly startled he was still in the room. She grinned after a moment. "Sorry. I know that." The grin fell from her face. "Casey looked dead."

Riley leaned forward and looked at Jessica so intently, she flinched and looked away. "Jessica. I want you to close your eyes and picture that day in your mind. When you looked away from your father's eyes and saw someone limp on the floor…who did you see?"

Jessica did as asked, and Riley knew he had guessed right when she flinched at her own thoughts.

"It was Mom," she finally murmured. "I saw Mom. I saw Casey and Mom at the same time. It was happening again."

Riley sighed as he leaned back. He glanced at the quill before looking back up at Jessica, who had now opened her eyes.

"I want to back up for a second. You said that you were standing in the room, on the spot where your father's blood was. Was Casey standing next to you?"

Jessica nodded. "It was the usual. Father was by his desk, we were standing in front of him, side-by-side, heads down, hands behind our back. Father started talking. 'Eavesdropping is forbidden' I remember him yell. He talked about having to punish me time and time again for it. He told me that this time the punishment would have to be…unchangeable so I would always remember not to do it anymore. That's when I knew what he was going to do. He was going to do the same thing to Casey as he had done to Mom. I remember screaming at him, but when he kept on, I grabbed my wand. I wasn't thinking. He turned on me and yelled—"

Jessica stopped suddenly, seemingly surprised at herself for stopping. She shook her head quickly before continuing.

"He started to beat me with the Strickiomus. He stopped me with the Impediment Curse. He knocked me over with another Strickiomus and then slapped one on my head. The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of his office. Casey was lying on the ground. Dad was still giving him the Crucio, but he had stopped moving. I knew from what happened with Mom that that meant that Crucio was starting to affect his body and brain. I knew that I didn't have long. I picked my wand up and did it, exactly as planned. The Slowing Jinx then the Killing Curse."

Riley paused for only half a minute before diving into the next question of importance.

"That day or any day during the break, do you remember your father mentioning anything about a will?"

Jessica stared at him a moment like she didn't understand what he was saying. Riley noticed her left hand make a fist before relaxing and becoming flat against the wall once again.

She shook her head. "No, I don't remember hearing anything about a will."

"Did you ever hear of your father referring to some books of your mother's? He would have been looking for them probably."

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Tatianna was about to ask Vince what he meant by that. Who could a 12-year old know that would frighten an adult witch or wizard – whichever Voldemort was? Vince saw when she understood.

Daniel Montgomery and the Dark Operators.

"Speaking of the uncle and his merry band of misfits, how did you react to the news of them?"

Tatianna was surprised. "How did you know about them?"  
Vince gave her a wicked grin as he spread his arms wide. "Vince McCallen knows everything." Her impatient look took care of his grin. "I was actually asked to help as an initial advisor to the program. They ask me to advise on a case every once in awhile too, as well as some off jobs every now and then. I only know the identity of one of the members."

"Which one?" Tatianna asked.

"Montie. Very lame codename but relatively effective for discussion of a back alley contact you run into in a professional capacity occasionally."

Tatianna smiled at him before frowning in her concentration again. She was silent a moment longer before she asked, "Coming from where you have come from and working as you are now, what do you think of the Dark Operators?"

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_This is what I was looking for._

Jessica fought to keep from looking annoyed at her brother. She pressed her hand more firmly to the wall. Directly on the opposite side of the wall was her brother, pressing his own right arm in the exact same place his sister was on the other side.

_What were you looking for, Brother? And remember to make this extremely short. Riley's looking for an answer._

_Slowly nod_, her brother commanded, as he had been commanding and coaching her through the whole interview. Jessica sucked at lying on her feet generally except to the people she hated. She also couldn't come up with detailed, convincing stories like Casey could. So, Jessica told him Riley's every question, and the one's she could answer herself, she told Casey at the same time she told Riley. Casey helped her with the lies, and, at the same time, they got their stories straight by Casey hearing her interview.

_Look off to the side as you try to think of a way to explain this. Here is our way out. The problem we have is that Dad has no other reason for keeping you alive other than the Mighty Blood and keeping me alive to control you. We can't tell Riley about the Mighty Blood. But this we can tell him because as surely Dad couldn't find them, Riley can't either. We tell him this…_

As Casey told her, she spoke, "You know that Montgomerys have a long line of Unspeakables. They're always experimenting, finding things out, discovering things."

Riley nodded. That's what Montgomerys were known for: Their scientific streak or their occasional Auror.

"Well, they have all these journals. Every relative wrote in one, Dad said. They've got all sorts of secrets in them, secret potions, secret spells, Dad told us. Well, I know that Mom hid them and put a spell on them."

"What did she do to them?" Riley asked when she again fell silent.

"She," Jessica looked at him, seeing his eyes on her, "put a spell on them so only me and Case could get into them.

And as Riley took an almost imperceptible breath, Jessica knew they had him. Her and Casey were on new ground, playing by rules all their own.

There was always the fact that they had just misled one of their best friends, but in this new game, she couldn't look at lying as immoral when it was meant to keep the said friend alive.

As Riley sat back, Jessica realized that when she had killed her father, she and

Tom weren't on different sides of the same coin then.

But now they were.

It was a thin line. And she was about to dance on it...

"The only problem is," Jessica continued, "Dad didn't know where they were and neither do we."

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Vince was thoughtful for a moment before he responded to Tatianna's question of what he thought of the Dark Operators, "In my capacity as a lawyer, there is not a country in the world that would uphold them. But speaking as a former Grindelwald cohort and a former fighter against Grindelwald and his cohorts, I would inform you that no matter what your other Aurors can and do do, rare will be the Auror that goes where these guys go on a whim and a regular basis. And not only that, but these Aurors have some small system to account to."

"What's the system?" Tatianna asked.

"Besides Daniel Montgomery, who's a system in and of himself, there's random psychiatric evaluations, random checks on bank accounts, and random room searches, none of which the team members are informed of. The only one to know that those latter random checks are performed is Daniel Montgomery.

"If you get on Daniel Montgomery's good side, he'll let you do more. Knowing you as I do, I 'm sure you'll feel much more comfortable with what more Montgomery will let you get away with when you're on his good side."

"Well, I'm his boss. He should let me get away with what I desire to get away with."

"There's where you and he differ, Anna. It's not the title that should be obeyed by the person behind that title, and that person has to earn that respect, according to Montgomery's philosophy. Just look at who arrested the guy who sat in your place before you. Anyhow, the rest of the Dark Operators will fall right into place behind Montgomery, and probably so will those here that know Montgomery and like him, those at the Ministry that know and like him, and those in other places and countries that know and like him. And trust me, that's more enemies than even you can bear.

"Montgomery's size merely shadows his bite. And if there's one thing I never want you to misunderstand about Montgomery, it's his mind. People sometimes make the fatal mistake that because he's a huge guy, he has no brains, but it's entirely the opposite." Vince shook his head. "If you piss Montgomery off, he will take you down. He knows how to make sure you'll see no one ever again, and he'll make sure no one finds you if he can't make sure no one will ever ask about you again. And before you get mad, keep in mind you're still behind this desk despite the fact you told him you are going to investigate him and after you threatened his team. And keep in mind, Daniel knows exactly what you'll find when you investigate his team and you are still behind this desk, alive and unharmed. And I will tell you, you will find things that would scare a lesser foe.

"Montgomery is not someone I would want to be on the receiving end of.

"But as to why you will want to be on his good side for the sake of feeling comfortable with his team. Montgomery felt comfortable with Secretary Raimy, the guy in your seat before Jonathon Ziners. He talked with Raimy freely about his actions and about the team members. The team members met with Raimy regularly and separately from their boss. And, last but most certainly not least, Raimy was allowed to have a man of his choosing (but with Montgomery's approval) analyze each team members' mind – Montgomery's included – using Legilimency."

Vince took a deep breath before saying quietly. "Seriously, Tatianna, from my experience with Grindelwald, you want at least one Auror who's doesn't obey a title or respect authority for the mere fact they claim to be an authority. You want an Auror where you have to earn that respect and that obedience from them. After living under Grindelwald, I can tell you that an Auror like that, if he's working for you, can be no better asset." Vince glanced off to the side for a moment before asking, his eyes still off to the side, "Tatianna, do you remember Black Hawk?"

Tatianna immediately nodded. "He was Grindelwald's top agent. Extremely elusive. Very deadly. We never found him, not even after Grindelwald was killed."

Vince looked at her as she answered and got her gaze when he responded, "We did catch him actually. He was killed by one on our side. Gary Rum. I have another question. Do you remember Jason Ryman?"

Again, Tatianna nodded quickly. "Yes. He was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic during the Grindelwald years. He was killed on a routine mission."

"Black Hawk was led into a trap by Gary Rum," Vince said, switching back to the previous topic. "As a number of our informants had said, the black hawk with the white stripe down his beak flew into a meeting with one of Grindelwald's potential financial backers, which was really Gary in disguise. Black Hawk transformed to his human form, recognized Gary's disguise as Gary, a fight broke out. Black Hawk died.

"Black Hawk and Jason Ryman were one and the same.

Vince sighed. "I visited Gary while I was at Hogwarts. He didn't saw as much, but he's preparing for another war. I know he knows things, I know he hears things, I know he sees things, and I know he feels things. We're going to be going to war with this Voldemort, Tatianna. We need someone to protect us from ourselves. We need Daniel Montgomery.

"Settle your fears about him. Ask around. Poke if you will. But trust me when I say – I can see the bad guy a mile away. I know how he walks. I know how he acts. I would lay down my life that Daniel's one of our guys."

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The first thing Jessica said to her brother when they were alone was, _What was that about? We do too know where the books are._

_ It doesn't matter_, he responded. _They were as good a reason as any to keep us alive. We can't tell Riley that we were being kept alive because Tom Riddle, second-in-command of an investigation to find Voldemort and Voldemort in the flesh, is the heir of Slytherin and can't get into the one place that he wants to most dearly to kill the one and only man he believes to be in his way and to take over what could be the best and most impenetrable fortress in the world, second only to Gringotts Bank. You know why we can't tell him that!_ Casey growled at his sister, but he didn't wait for her to answer the question. _We can't tell him that because Riley would never believe in a million years that we are part of a history that doesn't even exist except in fairy tales! Jessica, if there is one lesson Dad gave us, it is that we can't tell anyone. This is our fight and it's time we started fighting it. Yes, we have to lie, but that's to protect Riley._

Jessica didn't respond. After a moment, she gave her brother a hug, surprising him. When she let go, he asked,_ Are you going to be alright?_

She patted his shoulder as she looked in his eyes but didn't respond. She just walked out.

This time, Casey did feel slightly better at letting her go at that. He knew that she needed to think. That was his sister's greatest gift and greatest fault. She was good at the psychological games because she was a thinker. Not a liar, but a thinker. Unfortunately, this caused her to think over her actions way too much before she acted. She had the power, and she didn't want to become consumed by that.

For now, she needed to think over what they were doing. And Casey would let her do that. He would let her do that because when she left, her eyes were mostly green. They had some grey in them but mostly green.

Grey was her worry. But green. That was a beautiful color, Casey thought to himself. Especially in his sister's eyes. Green didn't come often enough. But it was there when she looked him in the eyes, and that was precisely why she looked him in the eyes.

Grey was her worry. Blue was her defeat. But green. Green was her strength and courage.

Casey smiled to himself.

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Albus Dumbledore watched as Jessica Ziners sat alone at the table at supper that night. She occasionally poked at her food but nothing ever entered her mouth. The room was almost emptied. Kids were in their dorms to spend a cozy night in their warm Common Room. But Jessica remained alone at the Slytherin Table. Albus wanted to wait until she left, but he had a meeting in his office tonight he couldn't miss.

Albus stood up and instead of walking back through the antechamber in the back of the Great Hall, he decided to walk out the front. He walked down the tables until he stood directly across from Jessica Ziners.

"How are you doing tonight, Miss Ziners?" Albus asked.

She didn't answer, so Albus repeated his question. She still didn't answer. Albus was about to reach over to touch her arm when she finally spoke.

"An Auror," she said.

Albus wasn't sure he heard anything until she spoke again.

"An Auror, Headmaster. Is it hard to become an Auror?" She looked up at him, her eyes not blue but an inquisitive green.

Albus slowly nodded. "Yes, very hard."

She nodded, seemingly confirming something. "I figured as much. Did you regret it?"

"My training as an Auror?" Albus asked. She nodded. He thought about it for a minute before asking, "Can I sit with you a moment, Miss Ziners?"

Jessica immediately nodded. "Sure, Sir."

Albus sat across the table from her. When he was settled, he answered her question, "Being an Auror is not the most pleasant job in the world. You have to mix with people you would not even want to know in your worst nightmares. You not only meet them, but you must make friends with them only to use them. You are forced to do many things you would not normally do or desire to do, but you must do them in the name of your greatest desire – to win for the side of good. There is a very fine line defining a good Auror and the other side, and it's sometimes hard to see. The job is not only trying physically but mentally."

"Not to mention dangerous," Jessica added.

Albus nodded. "Yes, very dangerous."

"So why do people become Aurors?"

Albus paused for a moment, glancing down. He took a deep breath before he said quietly, "The benefits vary a little from Auror to Auror."

"What were the benefits for you?"

"I was very good at what I did. I stopped a lot of very evil people that needed to be stopped. I did my best to stop them alive, but I understood in the beginning that couldn't always happen. I did my best and that was all I could have been asked to do. The benefit of the profession for me, Miss Ziners, is thinking of all the other lives – the innocent lives that were saved by eliminating only a very few people."

Jessica nodded before pausing reflectively. "But there is a bit of a thrill in the chase, isn't there?"

It surprised Albus at her perceptiveness of this at her young age. He slowly nodded, "I admit that, for some, there is the appeal of that."

She looked up at him again. "Is that a bad appeal?"

Albus thought a second before answering, "Not really. I think there needs to be some appeal of that sort in this profession. Otherwise, the Auror would be too afraid to go after the other side when they needed to. But the thrill of the chase could get out of control."

"And then we're back to the mental danger of the game," she supplied with a sigh. "Still, I want to become one. Like my Uncle Danny. I want to be feared by that other side."

Albus looked at the young girl for a long moment, a soft smile on his lips. Gary was right. She was undercover. And she didn't want to be. She wanted freedom. Albus wanted to give it to her…and just as he thought that, Rabastan Lestrange walked back into the Great Hall. Jessica glanced at him before looking back at her food. When she looked back up, her green eyes were faded ever so slightly before going to blue and starting through their cycle.

Albus nodded before standing up. "Have a good supper, Miss Ziners," he said. He turned to walk out of the Great Hall, but Jessica's voice stopped him.

"Professor Dumbledore," she said quietly. Albus turned back to her. "You said you use to be good at being an Auror."

Albus nodded.

"If required," she started but stalled a second to look where Rabastan was. He was talking to a Hufflepuff Beater. Jessica looked back to Albus. "If required," she repeated, "could you be so again?"

Albus glanced at Rabastan himself. The boy stopped talking to the Beater and glanced at Albus and Jessica. Albus looked back at Jessica. "I don't even have to wait for a need. I am still a great Auror." Albus slowly smiled at her.

She returned the smile.

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Just as Maria and Harriet yanked her into the second floor bathroom again at lunch the next day, Jessica noticed something she hadn't before. Just as a person walked out a door down the hall, the person's eyes saw Jessica's predicament. Jessica didn't think much of it because of the person. It was Bellatrix Black that had noticed her, and the second she had noticed her, she turned back into the classroom.

Maria and Harriet threw Jessica against the sink, knocking the wind out of her. Jessica coughed as she sunk to the floor, where she waited for the next blow.

It never came.

Jessica looked up in time for one of Maria's henchmen to fall into her lap. Jessica pushed her off. Harriet and Maria screamed as they were backed into a corner by Rodolophus Lestrange while Bellatrix scared the others out of bathroom. Once Bellatrix was sure the others weren't coming back, she held out a hand to Jessica. Jessica stared at her hand for a second before taking the help up.

"Ziners, why are you beating up Ziners?" Rodolophus asked. Maria and Harriet didn't seem to notice the irony of the question, but Bellatrix and Jessica exchanged an amused glance.

"Ziners!" Rodolophus yelled when Maria didn't answer. "You know who Jessica is. What do you think Master would think?"

"Jessica doesn't obey him," Maria said. "Master doesn't want anyone to know, but Jessica is against him. The only reason she's sticking with him is because he is threatening to kill Casey if she does anything against him."

Jessica snorted. "Pathetic, Maria. What a pathetic lie."

Rodolophus threw Jessica a smirk before pouncing on Maria and Harriett again. "You're just mad, Ziners, because Daniel Montgomery got your dimwit of a father in jail. That ain't Jessica's fault. We can't be held responsible for the actions of our relatives."  
Maria started to comment on that but stopped when she looked at Bellatrix, who looked ready for a fight at the first mention of her wayward uncle, aunt, and cousins.

Rodolophus shook his head at the two girls before lowering his wand a fraction. "If I even _hear_ the idea of beating Jessica Ziners again run through your head again, you will deal directly with me _and my friends_. Got it?"

Maria and Harriett hesitated a second. Rodolophus jumped towards them again.

"Okay, okay!" they both shouted.

Rodolophus smiled in satisfaction. He started to turn away. Both girls started to move only to jump back when Rodolophus turned sharply. He laughed.

"Come on, Bell, Jessica. Let's leave these two."

Harriett ran out. Bellatrix smiled and started out, Rodolophus following her, but Rodolophus stopped though when Jessica just stared at Maria, a smirk on her face. Maria was in the corner, avoiding looking

She nodded without looking at him. "In a minute," she said.

Understanding, Rodolophus nodded and he and Bellatrix left.

Jessica approached Maria, who avoided looking at her until Jessica was breathing on her cheek. Maria started to speak but only a choking sound made it out as Jessica grabbed the collar of her robes and held her up against the wall.

"Beat me up, I don't care. But if you're going to understand one thing, it is this. I know the game better than you. I will not only beat you at this game. If you push me, I will crush you."

Maria shook her head as much as she could, giving her cousin a defiant look. "Once Master is sick of you, he will torture you to death."

"That's the difference between you and me, Maria. I'm willing to get tortured to get what I want." Jessica, with adrenaline induced strength, held her up further. "And if you stand between me and what I want ever again, I will take you down with me."

Jessica let go of Maria and stormed out so fast and so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that Maria fell down in a heap to the floor.

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Tatianna was walking to her office when she noticed that Riley Haderson's office door was open a crack. Since it was suppose to be locked when he wasn't there, this caught her attention. Haderson was never here before 8 a.m. if he didn't need to be, and it wasn't 7 a.m. Plus, she thought he still was in England completing his investigation.

Tatianna walked down the hall to his office and cautiously peeked in. She was surprised to see Haderson actually in there. He was sitting behind the desk, his feet propped on it, and his face towards the window and the rising sun. Tatianna took a step into his office and the famously alert Auror didn't even budge.

She took a moment to look at him. Not even 34-years old, he was nearly at the top of his profession. He had his battle wounds, but he had almost all his limbs intact – he was missing only one finger. To have most of his limbs was a living testimony to either his luck or how good he truly was.

Tatianna had heard nothing but good reports on Haderson. He had not even a blotch in his file, a file which contained his top grades from his schooling and only the most exemplarity reports from his superiors. He either was top notch or he was the best bad guy she had ever met. She had yet to decide which.

"Haderson," she finally said. He turned to her without even flinching.

"Yes?" he asked as though he had known she was there the whole time. His throat was dry she noted.

"I thought you wouldn't get in until late today," she commented.

"I got back from England a few hours ago," he murmured. "And while you're here," he sat up and picked up a thick file from his desk. He handed it to her. "You asked me to personally deliver my report on the Ziners murder when I was done with my investigation."

Tatianna took the file. She flipped through it. "The interview transcript," she murmured when she found it. It had to be well over 20 pages long. "Did you interview both children?"

Riley looked away as he nodded. "Both of them."

"Did you ask about the mother's death?" Tatianna asked, looking at the boy. Riley had informed her of the discovery the previous week when she had asked for an update.

Riley nodded. "Yes. I was right."

He looked so distracted that Tatianna didn't feel it safe to leave yet.

"Haderson, are you going to be able to stand at trial?" she asked sternly.

That brought Haderson's eyes back to her. He nodded quickly. "Yes, I will be." He glanced at his desk again before looking back at her, "You have to excuse my wandering attention at the moment. It was more of an experience interviewing the kids than I thought it would be."

"Did you remain objective?" Tatianna asked quickly.

Riley snorted at her question, propping his feet back on the desk and looking back at the sunrise. "You've been in a laboratory too long, Unspeakable. The real world isn't as simple as being objective. But to answer your question, yes, I can be objective. That's not what I meant by more of an experience than I had expected." He sighed and scratched the back of his neck before looking back at Tatianna. "You'll notice this when you read the interview with Jessica. When she talks about Jeffery, she refers to him as two different people. Dad and Father. She really put new meaning to those words," he said quietly before continuing in a regular voice. "Dad was a human to her, Father was an evil machine. She literally would slip from one to the other in the same breath. Casey wasn't quite so divided with the names. He interchanged them. But Jessica referred to them as though she were talking about two different people."

"Who did she kill? Dad or Father."

"Father," Riley said without a doubt. "Definitely Father."

"Why do you think Casey was able to interchange them?"

"Jeffery, according to both of the kids, treated Jessica better. I think Casey only saw Jessica's 'Father'. I think Jeffery was nice to Jessica at times. Or she just tried to see him in a better light. Maybe as a coping mechanism."

"Do you believe that Jessica has any knowledge on this Voldemort?"

There was a moment before Riley shook his head. "I don't think she knows. I think she might have suspected something, but we can't go after that. I think both kids were more intent on not getting beat. Well, I think Casey was intent on not getting beat. Jessica was intent on Casey not getting beat. She didn't seem to care too much about what happened to herself."

Tatianna slowly nodded. Suddenly, it started to make some sense. Jessica was protecting her brother. If Jeffery Ziners treated her better, she would get the lesser of the beatings. But why did Jeffery treat his daughter better? If they were old family, she would think Jeffery would treat Casey better.

Riley looked her way. "What are you thinking?"

"Why would Jeffery treat his daughter better than the son? An old traditional British family—"

"Females are notoriously more powerful magically in the bloodline from which Jessica descends. Madeline's line, not Jeffery's. Most don't really know because the last name changes so much, so it's more of an orally passed fact. Jessica – Madeline and Daniel's mother, Jessica the younger's namesake – informed me of that when I was younger. Plus, there has to be some weight given to the fact that she is the firstborn. There is also the other thing."

Tatianna cocked her head. "What's the other thing?"  
Riley was silent so long that she was unsure he would respond. Finally, he did, his voice laden so utterly thick with anger so suddenly that it startled Tatianna. "She was for breeding. Voldemort most likely, if that was who Jeffery was bankrolling."

Tatianna looked down, the file still open. The first thing she saw was 'I was the queen, the one that shouldn't be damaged'. She looked back up Riley. His eyes were back toward the window.

"Are you sure that neither Jessica nor Casey knew about their father's connection to Voldemort?"

"If they did, they probably didn't know it. Anyway, they're away from him now, whatever the case. Daniel will protect them."

"The books?" she asked. "The books mentioned in the letter. Did you find out what they were exactly? And if the children knew where they were?"

"I found out what the books were from Daniel. They are the Montgomery diaries…well, now the Ziners diaries. He says they change names to follow the female line of blood. Why, I don't know and neither does Daniel. It's followed tradition for a long time now, he says, so the real reason has been long since lost. Other than that, the diaries contain the secret discoveries of the families they have gone through. Daniel says that the reason they are secret is because of the danger they would present if unleashed in the real world."

"So, it's definitely something we don't want Voldemort or anyone to get their hands on. Why weren't they destroyed?"

"To share knowledge with future generations. For example, this ingredient with that ingredient provides this result. The family line has sworn to protect the diaries with their lives." Riley shrugged.

"Other than that," he continued. "Jessica and Casey gave me the same story. They knew what the books contained, but they also knew that the books kept them alive. Madeline put a spell over the books so that when Jeffery managed to find them—"

"He couldn't get to them without Casey or Jessica," Tatianna finished.  
Riley nodded. "But he wanted to keep Jessica for the aforementioned purpose. Casey was disposable."

"Do the kids know where the books are?"

Riley shook his head. "No clue, but I have Aurors searching the house now."

"Well, let me know when they find them," Tatianna said, starting to turn.

"They won't find them," Riley said to her back as he returned to his window.

She turned, but only saw the side of Riley's face. "Why is that?" she asked.

"If Madeline Montgomery didn't want them found, they won't be found." Having gotten an impression of Madeline's work through the Unspeakable circuit, Tatianna suspected that Riley was right.

"All of this for a set of books," Tatianna murmured after a moment.

"And the funny thing is that, to Madeline, it probably had nothing to do with the books."

Tatianna thought that over a minute before saying, "What do you mean by that?"

"She hid the books so that he would need the kids to get to the books. It wasn't about hiding the books to Madeline. It was a life insurance policy for Jessica and Casey. It kept them alive all this time."

Tatianna started to leave when Riley's voice stopped her again. "I'm changing my conclusion. To self-defense. And before you assume I'm trying to protect Jessica, just read the interview transcript."

After she left, Riley murmured. "I'm not trying to protect Jessica. I already failed miserably at that."

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Sirius had his usual taunts with Jessica. Some weeks, there were only a few a week, some weeks, they were daily. Some days, they were hourly. Jessica usually happily tossed insults back, the severity of them depending on whether or not there were professors or prefects about. Occasionally, there were a hex or two exchanged, but it was an even rarer occurrence when either went to the Hospital Ward, both for fear that if they went, not only would they receive detention, but they would look weak to their respective friends.

After Christmas, per orders of his dad, Sirius had laid off her a bit. Even Sarah Black had laid off her, though Jessica had half expected the bitch to start into her after not having Casey to unmercifully harass. When the taunts had started again, it was luckily after Jessica had had her conversation with the Bloody Baron, so she was thus feeling a bit more like herself. She was able to defend herself but not quite in her usual manner. She wasn't as aggressive and also, sometimes desperately, searched for places to escape into and professors and prefects for protection. Jessica knew that before, there had been a line she could cross in these fights, and Sirius and Sarah both had that same line. But after Christmas, that line had flown so close to Jessica's feet, the flight of it so fast that it had almost made her dizzy. So Jessica watched for that line constantly, knowing that if she were removed from the protective walls of Hogwarts, its protectiveness amplified a hundred fold due to recent events, Jessica would not survive the influence of Tom.

And whether it be lucky or unlucky, she had other protection, almost severely ironic in nature. They were the Slytherins, the very entity of people that she so feared outside Hogwarts' walls. Whenever one, two, or a few were near, especially if they be in the running for future Death Eaters (which only made the situation all the more ironic), and Sirius and his little gang were to start into her, they would form a protective barrier around her, hurling insults at the puny, little Gryffindor and his puny, little friends.

But it was bound to happen. Jessica was bound to snap, she knew, because she knew that a member of the Black family was bound to cross the line. It was only a matter of time before they chose a taunt of which nature was likely to make Jessica see red.

Surprisingly, though not so, it was Sarah Black. The puny, little First Year decided that she was brave enough to take on the murdering Second Year. It was a crowded hall. Sarah had just passed Jessica in the hallway. Jessica walk alone, and Sarah was crowded by friends, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws alike.

"Hey, girls, look. It's the girl who murdered her father."

Jessica rolled her eyes and kept walking, muttering under breath, "Oh, how original."

"You know," Sarah kept going, now turning, her friends with her, to follow Jessica. This only occurred a short ways, however. "People say she did it protecting her brother. They say their father was killing him, but that's not what happened. It was Jessica killing her brother, the father stopping her." Jessica's feet stopped but her back remained on the young girl. "And you know what else?" Sarah asked, seeing she had her prey and was about to reel her in. "She murdered her mother too." There were some gasps from her fellow mates. "Her mother was this Voldemort character's ho. But Jessica wanted to be his ho."

Jessica turned slowly, her eyes dark. The hall had long since stopped moving and people were gathering in a circle. Everyone knew, Jessica realized suddenly, that she would eventually break. They were just waiting for the violence as proof that she was a bad guy, a confirmation of their rumors.

"No, the place of Voldemort's ho belongs to you. I'll let him know you want it," Jessica replied.

"I'll let my dad know you can pass messages along to Voldemort. He'll add it to the long line of evidence against you. He hasn't had to work too hard to gather it though."

Jessica started towards Sarah, who bravely held her ground. She was stopped however by hands on her shoulders. She looked to her left and right quickly and saw Narcissa at her left shoulder and Severus at her right. Jessica had no doubt of her ability to get past Narcissa, but both she and Severus knew that she was no match for him. At least, not yet, she assured herself.

Jessica noticed in her glances as well that other Slytherins of all years had gathered around on her side. As Jessica looked to the front, she saw that a wide gulf now existed between Sarah and her. Sarah was being backed up by Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws of all years. But the number wasn't what had Jessica's attention. It was the green eyes of the girl standing next to Alice Bolmond. Lily looked unsettled in her position, but she had finally learned what Jessica had so tried to tell her the day they boarded the train in their first year. Lily finally understood some of the world of which Jessica was a part. Lily was too good to understand the rest of Jessica's world however.

Next to Alice stood, in this order: Frank Longbottom, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius was looking ready to step in for his sister the moment she allowed it. Hell, he looked ready to rip it from her.

"What? Struck dumb by the Cruciatus Curse. Oops," Sarah put a hand to her mouth, "Sorry, that was your brother."

Jessica started for her wand, but upon remembering she didn't have it, she started her hand up. But she couldn't move it from her side. Severus was holding her wrist. She looked from her hand up to Severus. He was abnormally tall for his age. He stood a good six inches tallerthan her so she had to look way up. Severus' dark eyes were looking at hers. They stood that way for a period of time until Jessica finally understood. The power of her hand should not be used in conjunction with her heart but rather her head, as Professor Rum had told her. It was not wise to hurt this girl. At this time, at least. Jessica knew what she had to do. She knew it was time to use her brain.

Jessica turned back to Sarah to see that the girl was bravely crossing the great divide between the Slytherins and the rest of school. She didn't stop until she was nose to nose with Jessica, both girls standing at about the same height.

"I dare you. Since I know you don't have your magic, I _dare you_ to take a swing at me." When Jessica didn't move, Sarah smirked. "What are you? A chicken?"

Jessica didn't speak. Slowly, a smile covered her face. But still, she did not speak.

The two girls stood in silence for some time before the smirk started to disappear from Sarah's face. A second later, she forced it back on. Sarah took a step back. "You are a coward, Ziners. Just as I thought. Willing to murder your father when there is no one around to stop you but a dumb, almost dead brother, but not willing to take a swing at me in this crowded hallway."

"Miss Black!" came the screech of McGonagall's voice.

Everyone from every house scattered, even the now-smiling Slytherins. Jessica was the only Slytherin to not smile, her own grin replaced by a feigned sad, innocent look as she, Severus, and Narcissa remained in their spots.

McGonagall pushed her way into the center of the incident to stand over the now ashen faced First Year Gryffindor.

"Miss Black, the display I just witnessed her makes me ashamed to be the head of your house. A month of detention!" McGonagall turned her head to look at Jessica.

"Are you alright, Miss Ziners?"

Jessica gave a 'brave' nod as she took a shuttering breath and an audible sniff through her nose. "I think—I think I will be." Narcissa only added to it when she put a comforting arm around Jessica.

"It'll be alright, Jessica," Narcissa said soothingly. "Let's go to class."

"Don't worry about going," McGonagall said, referring to their next class. "I'll inform the professor you won't be there. Right now, I think Miss Ziners needs her friends and a break."

Jessica buried her head in Narcissa's shoulder as she nodded and sniffed louder. "Thanks, Professor," she said in a weak voice. Both Severus and Narcissa mouthed thanks to McGonagall as they started Jessica down the stairs.

It wasn't until they were in Jessica's room that three burst into fits of laughter.

"That was the performance of a lifetime, Jessica!" Narcissa laughed as she fell onto Jessica's bed. Jessica fell next to her, giggling the hardest she had in what seemed like a long time.

Severus fell next to Jessica, laughing the hardest and longest Jessica had ever heard the boy.

"I thought I was going to lose it with the sniffles," he said.

"I thought I was going to lose it with the burying of her head in my shoulder," Narcissa added.

"I thought I was a goner when Narcissa put her arm on my shoulders." Jessica turned to her left to Narcissa. "And the only reason I buried my head in your shoulder is because I did lose it when McGonagall excused us from class."

This brought renewed laughter from the three. When they started to quiet, Narcissa turned to the other two. "You think McGonagall will be mad when she realizes that our next class was hers?"

Jessica shrugged, but Severus shook his head. "Nah. After all, _poor, little Jessica needs her friends right now_." Severus sniffled dramatically.

Narcissa and Severus laughed. Jessica grabbed her pillow and hit Severus with it, causing a tug-of-war with the two. All three dissolved onto the floor at the end of the fight, giggling so hard they couldn't breathe properly.

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Riley met Mark Halmer in Casey's room the next night.

"The shirt?" Riley asked.

There was a nod. "Yeah, the information he gave you panned out."

"And the books?"

"Nothing," Mark said. He sounded tired.

Riley nodded as though that was what he had expected.

Mark shook his head on a sigh. "I don't get it," he said. "There is not a spot in this house that we didn't cover. We sure went through a ton of books though. To think," Mark said, casting a look over at the packed floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that covered two walls in Casey's large bedroom, "all these books and no diaries. It's as though they don't exist."

Riley, his eyes on the same shelves, nodded. "I'm not surprised. If Madeline had wanted them hidden, they won't be found."

"Do you think she destroyed them?" Mark asked, his eyes back on Riley.

His eyes still on the shelves, Riley shook his head. "No, they're still here, somewhere in this house. We've probably walked by them a million times without even knowing."

Mark chuckled. "Madeline was sure a smart lady."

"The smartest," Riley said. "Knowing her, we'll smack ourselves for being so stupid when we find them."

"If we ever find them," Mark pointed out as they left the room together.

"That's true, my friend. Very true."

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When Peter, James, and Sirius all sat across the table from Remus in the Gryffindor Common Room, Remus couldn't help but look up at them from his book. They had never looked so serious in the time Remus had known them. He grinned.

"What is it?" he asked, amused.

"We've come to a decision," Peter announced, smiling.

"Well," Sirius shrugged, "a promise to be more exact. A promise to you and to each other."

When they didn't continue, Remus prompted, "And that might be?"

"We've decided that we're going to become Animagi, so that when you…we can go with you."

Remus looked at them suspiciously for a very long time.

Peter kept nodding. James and Sirius kept grinning.

Remus shrugged and shook his head, going back to his book.

The three across the table looked at each other. "He isn't going to believe us until the end of the full moon next March," Sirius said. "So that's to be expected."

"I'm not going to believe you until then?" Remus asked, glancing up again. "Did a crystal ball instruct you on this?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nah. I just know you."

Remus went back to his book but not fast enough to hide his grin or silent laughter.

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Jeff Rin knew that she should be happy. She had caught the Snitch. Slytherins had won the Quidditch Cup. But her smile was only half there. She was in deep thought. The last few days, she had appeared to have accepted something, but it didn't seem to bother her that deeply. And rather than bother her, it seemed to have made her stronger. She did, however, seem resigned to something.

She seemed tired, Jeff had noticed. More tired than a 12-year old should be.

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Casey had been allowed to walk outside the Hospital Ward for the last two weeks. Today, he didn't say anything as they walked back to Jessica's room. No sound came from either of them until well past the closing of the door. Both were sitting on the bed, staring at the spot in space before them, when Jessica spoke.

"I lied to Riley," she said quietly. It was the first time she had spoken of their interview since after the day it had occurred.

Casey nodded. "So did I."

"He believed us."

Casey nodded again.

"We're not finished lying."

Casey looked at Jessica, surprised to hear her admit that without prompting.

She wasn't finished. "No. After this, it'll be the judges at my trial, Uncle Danny, Andorra, Mr. Potter, Gary, the teachers, Lily,…everyone." She finally looked at him. "This is our fight, Case. We're not on the sidelines anymore. We're in the game, whether we like it or not.

"I think we were always in the game though. But, this time…this time, we're playing."

To be continued…

The end of the school year.


	13. Living the Lie

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex (at) charter (dot) net)

**Chapter 13:** Living the Lie

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Supreme Interrogat ("Interrogat" is not suppose to be "Interrogate", so it is not misspelled) (mc):** In the original version of this chapter, Jessica and Casey were put on trial in front of the Wizengamot in America. However, upon thinking about it and comparing my severely limited knowledge of the top courts in England and in the United States, I decided that America needed something else entirely. So, in continuing to compare my limited knowledge of the top courts in England and in the United States, I came up with an American version of the Wizengamot – the Supreme Interrogat. It has twelve "Supreme Interrogators" and a Court Scribe.

**Ellen Vallen (mc):** Current Headmistress of the Salem's Institute. She was the Headmistress when Riley Haderson, Mark Halmer, and Andre'a Kay all went there.

**Julian Hammonds (mc):** The Court Scribe. Went to school with Riley and Mark.

**A note on finances stopping around an attack:** According to my reading of Tom Clancy, what I say about finances stopping around the time of attack is generally true of terrorist attacks.

Timeline:The day they get home from Hogwarts to start the summer.

"Truly, to tell lies is not honorable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, to speak dishonorably is pardonable."

Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC), Creusa

Danny wasn't sure about moving the kids back to their home, but they insisted. He was entirely prepared to move them to his apartment when they arrived at the kids' old home, but he ended up being surprised when they immediately set their luggage in the foyer for the house elves and set about to explore the house.

"What are you looking for?" Daniel asked when he saw them move through a side door in the living area.

"Malf!" Jess called from the hallway.

A house elf suddenly appeared from the dining room.

"Mistress, you called me?" the aging house elf replied. Daniel was surprised to see the joy on the house elf's face.

Jessica and Casey came back into the foyer. She smiled at Malf.

"Malf," Jess said. "Come," she nodded her head towards the hallway she and Casey had just exited. "We need to talk."

Malf looked curious as he followed them from the room. Casey, who was last to exit, looked at Danny and shook his head. "This is a private conversation," he said quietly before leaving with his sister and the house elf.

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"We need to free all those once loyal to only my dad," were the first words out of Jessica's mouth after Casey shut the door to the room they had just entered from the hallway.

Malf looked taken aback, and it was then Jessica realized what she sounded like. Casey knew from their discussion on the train ride home that she was nervous and even a tad bit scared to do what they were about to do, but he knew she believed as equally as he did that this was their best option.

"I want to free all the _house elves_ that were loyal to only Father," Jessica rephrased.

Malf's face went from shocked to surprised. "That's a goods chunks of the staffs, Mistress."

"How many?" Jessica demanded.

"A littles over fifties, methinks," the old house elf replied quietly.

Jessica nodded silently.

"There's going to be about thirty coming from the Department of Magic, I imagine, if Uncle Danny moves in with us," Casey supplied.

Jessica looked confused for a second, so Casey started to explain. "Part of the Montgomery house elves were suppose to go to Uncle Danny. Since only two or three can reside in his apartment at a time, he ordered the rest to keep Magical Law Enforcement clean until such time as he needed them."

Jessica looked back at Malf. "Will that be about enough to keep this place functioning?"

Malf nodded. "Yeses, Mistress, it wills be."

"What about security?"  
Malf hesitated before nodding. "Yeses, Mistress, it wills be."

Correctly interpreting Malf's hesitance, Jessica smiled. "Don't worry. This time you'll be protecting Casey, Uncle Danny, and me, not Lord Voldemort."

Malf smiled. "I'm glads, Mistress. I'm glads."

From his corner, Casey agreed. "You aren't the only one, Malf."

Jessica exchanged a smile with him.

"Let's begin," Jessica said quietly. "And I don't want it to hit them until they're outside the house."

When Jessica and Casey turned to leave the room, Malf threw them a curious look.

"Wheres are you going, Masters, Mistresses?"  
The siblings exchanged a smile before Casey answered the house elf. "To get a bunch of socks of course."

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Andorra stopped just outside the kitchen door. The house elves at Briana Manor had let her in with the instruction that she could find Master Montgomery in the kitchen. Washing dishes. They had sounded annoyed about that.

And sure enough. He was washing dishes. Andorra stood watching her Level Black Captain, her Captain of his Dark Operators, her Daniel. She knew he was younger than she was. Much younger, if truth be told. Much, much younger. She took a silent breath. Though graying, she still had streaks of brown in her hair. Her face was still youthful. Many did not believe she was her age. But she was. And, unfortunately, she couldn't help the way she felt about some people, even if they were much younger than she was. Much, much younger.

She and Daniel hadn't clicked right at the beginning of their relationship. She had just become the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in America after serving twenty years as an Auror for them. He was a hotshot just off training in the States, though he had attended Hogwarts in England. She remembered that his mother had visited often and worried about him more often. His Marks were higher than hers were, and you could tell by both his ability and his attitude. She thought he would be showy on a mission. She worried, so she had assigned him a routine mission, going with him with the idea that she would drag his bruised body home. To her great surprise, and dismay at the time, he had ended up dragging her bruised body home. He hadn't been showy but rather the epitome of reserve. Much later, he would confide in her how strict his mom had been growing up, how she had been very concerned with the self-control of her children. She had always felt that there was something to that, something more, but he had been tightlipped on what he said about it.

After he had dragged her bruised body home, the next day, he hadn't said a thing. He knew how hard it was for her to control the Aurors because of her being a woman. Being the sister of the "great" Albus Dumbledore had helped very little. (Living with that constant comparison was extremely difficult.) But Daniel never said a word about the incident. Yet, even after that, Daniel and she did not become friends. It wouldn't be until after Whitman that things would change.

Whitman was a left over from Grindelwald. He had a special vendetta against Andorra, because of the precise connection to Albus that everyone had made at that time when it came to her. Whitman had wanted to start Grindelwald's operation back up but in America this time. And he had almost succeeded. Had it not been for the determination of Andorra, Secretary Raimy, and Daniel Montgomery and one late night meeting between Andorra and Daniel, Whitman would have succeeded.

It had been that night that she saw this hotshot kid as something else. At the late night meeting between Andorra and Daniel, Daniel brought up this crazy idea that had been going through his head for years. It was the start of the formation of a team that would become known as the Dark Operators, named so after their operations – operations that were to take place in darkness so no one could see and no one could know. And then Daniel suggested another thing that had surprised Andorra at the time. There was this kid that followed Daniel wherever Daniel went. This kid would have annoyed a lesser person, but Daniel remained patient, even though she could see it trying him at times. But that night, at that meeting, without hesitation, Mr. Hotshot – Daniel – had suggested this annoying little brat of a kid to be the Commander of the Dark Operators. To Andorra's amazement, Daniel had been getting copies of the kid's transcript via bugging the kid's old great-aunt. This kid would be done with Auror training at the end of the week.

And after this suggestion, Daniel, along with some other individuals, put together a team that would live without the law to defend the law. They would obey not a title, Daniel insisted, but one behind a title, such as Andorra herself, he explained, and Secretary Raimy. They would not obey them because they were the head of the department or the secretary. They would obey them because Andorra and Raimy themselves deserved to be obeyed.

When he was finished laying this plan out, Andorra had asked how in the name of Merlin he expected a group of government agents to defend the law without obeying it themselves. He laid out a system to check the individuals, including the fact that the group itself would never know the exact system of check being inflicted upon them. She then asked why he thought this would work, why he thought that this would be better than the bad guys since this was only stooping to their level. His answer shocked her.

While in Diagon Alley to get some school supplies one day while he was still attending Hogwarts, curiosity had gotten the better of him. He had ventured into Knockturn Alley and seen Grindelwald. The evil wizard was in a shop giving a speech. And Daniel had sat and listened. One of the things he had heard had continued to haunt him through his schooling and into his days as an Auror. Grindelwald had said, 'They can't catch us, and do you know why they can't catch us? In the great race to the top, they stop at the signs of their laws, while we run straight through!' And Daniel did not think that fair to the very people the Aurors protect. So what if they got a group that would obey laws though they would never get in trouble for breaking them?

Daniel was the one they rarely checked. She was the last one to run a check on him, and it still amazed her that he never stepped outside the bounds of his job at all. The one without the biggest check – himself – never used his position to his own advantage.

He put his team together, and they worked beautifully. He put his team plans together, and they succeeded in almost everything they did. He could get his team excited about the very ideology that many Aurors lose excitement for after awhile.

Andorra and Daniel had become fast friends during the taking down of Whitman, a process that had lasted two long grueling years. On the night they had caught him, the Department had celebrated. It was really Daniel's catch, but, per restrictions, the Dark Operators couldn't openly declare their captures. So many people had shaken Andorra's hand that night rather than Daniel's. They said things like, 'I honestly wondered about you, Andorra, but you did it!', 'I'm surprised, but pleasantly so, Dumbledore.', and the worse: 'Your brother has taught you well.' Daniel had walked her home that night. As they stopped in front of the door to her own apartment, a floor above Daniel's, she had shaken his hand to congratulate him, but, his large hand gripping her smaller one tightly, he whispered, 'I was never surprised, Andorra. Greatest runs in your family, but all your brother did was merely begin it. Had you been born first, it would be your name haunting Professor Dumbledore.' Unexpectedly, tears had risen in her eyes, but she blinked them out quickly. It was then that her entire world had shifted. Daniel had smiled at her, that sweet grin that she would grow to adore, and had leaned down to kiss her cheek. 'Congratulations on the capture, Andorra.' 'But, it was your capture,' she had replied to him. He had shaken his head. 'No, it was yours. You had faith in a crazy idea, by a crazy, hotshot Auror, an idea every person on earth would have shot down before taking a risk on. That took more guts than what my team did.' She remembered that he had taken a deep breath then, making her already light head spin a little as, at that moment, she had realized how large and muscular he was. 'Sometimes,' he had continued, 'people don't realize that the more frightening task isn't always dealing with the enemies on the other side. Sometimes, it's being willing to deal with the enemies on your own side. And you did it, Andorra. That's why you're _my_ boss.' He gave the hand he was holding a squeeze, giving her that sweet grin again before turning to walk away, never realizing that, at that moment, he had just changed her life.

He giving her public credit for capturing Whitman had helped her considerably. She was then given credit for having a brain and the real Andorra Dumbledore was allowed to show herself and to come into her own as the years rolled by; her past Auror work in the hunting of Grindelwald was also allowed to show itself. But it wasn't that that had the most profound affect on her that night. It was his sweet smile and the forever wildly beating heart in her chest every time he came near her after that.

"Does my backside look that interesting, Andorra?" he asked, continuing to face his dishes.

"As a matter of fact, it does," she responded, surprising them both. She laughed to cover it up. "What, may I ask, is a wizard doing washing dishes the Muggle way?"

"It use to be an exercise my mother would make Maddie and myself do to give us patience and self-control."

"Is there something particular you need patience and self-control for right now?" Andorra asked, walking over to stand next to him so she could see his profile.

"There's a load of stuff here I would prefer smashing, but I told Jessica I would let her and Casey decide what to do with their father's stuff."

She nodded. "That's probably the best idea," she said before glancing around and listening a moment. "Where are the kids anyhow?"  
Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea at the moment. They insisted that they needed privacy and took off with a house elf."

"A house elf?" Andorra asked.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, Malf."

"By chance…is Malf an old house elf, with a white beard but quite fast and efficient for his age?"  
The question caused Daniel to pause a moment before continuing. "Yeah, why?"  
Andorra shook her head. "Nothing really. Something about the case." That was the house-elf that had helped her and Riley the day that they examined Madeline's laboratory.

Daniel looked at her.

"Don't ask because I can't answer you," she said.

"I wasn't planning on asking. I was just looking at you," he said, going back to his dishes, almost sounding like a little griping kid.

Andorra paused a moment before commenting, "I'm surprised that you returned to the house. I thought you were going to bring them to your apartment."

"I thought I was to. They insisted on coming here."

"They can't go into their father's study. Or his bedroom."

"Bedroom?" Daniel asked, glancing at her. "I didn't realize that was a part of the crime scene."

"Jeffery is part of the crime scene. Therefore, his bedroom is as well."

Daniel shrugged, seemingly too tired to argue or to try to understand.

"Either way, it's all taped off and what have you," he sighed. "Plus, I don't think the kids will venture to that side of the house anytime soon. They convened their little house elf meeting on their safe side."

"Safe side?"  
Daniel nodded. "Their life happened on one side of the house while their father's happened on the other. At least, that's what Jesse explained to me when she asked when supper was going to be." Daniel broke a plate. Instead of picking it up, he dropped it in the water and gripped the edge of the sink with his soapy hands.

Andorra put a hand on his back. "It's not your fault, Daniel."

"The hell it isn't," he said, his voice tired and strained. "I've spent the past six months trying to understand why I didn't see, why they didn't tell me. I know that Maddie told me in her letter that Jessica wouldn't trust me because she couldn't, but…I'm their uncle, Andorra. I'm suppose to protect them. Not only did I fail at that, I missed what was right in front of my face. I'm trained to weed out the bad guys. To discover them, track them, and capture them, kill them if I can't capture them. I missed Jeffery. He was there, under my nose the whole time, and _I missed him_."  
She rubbed her hand up and down his back. "Sometimes it's hardest to see what's right under our nose. We live so long with it that we become comfortable with our thoughts of a person, not taking into account that they can change and change fast and we never even notice it. You know from experience that life can change in a second and not everyone around you notices the effect on you. Like Riley changed after that child."

"But I noticed that, Andorra. I noticed that!" he growled loudly. "But I couldn't notice the change in my own sister. I couldn't even notice the change in my niece or nephew."

"That's simple to explain. Maddie didn't let you see the change in her. She got herself into this mess, she would tell you, then she would say that she wasn't about to let her little brother get her out of it. By the time that the kids were born, she couldn't tell you.

"As for the kids, you didn't notice the change in them because there wasn't a change to notice. They lived all their life under Jeffery's rein. They didn't know any different, except for what you inadvertently taught them and Madeline attempted to teach them.

"The kids aren't blaming you for what happened."

"No. Jessica's blaming herself."

"She shouldn't."

"I know that. You know that." Suddenly, Daniel stopped. His eyes slowly turned to Andorra. "She shouldn't blame herself? What about Ri's conclusion? That it was premeditated?"

Andorra glanced away as she sighed. "That's what I came up here to talk to you about. Riley and Secretary Melovic wanted you to know. They also want you to tell the kids. The charge has been changed. It was premeditated, but he believes that it is also self-defense." Though Daniel only merely looked at her, she held up a hand to stop any possible objection. "I've seen his evidence. It's incredibly persuasive."

"No."

Both Andorra and Daniel turned to the door to see Jessica standing there, Casey beside her. Casey was looking at her in surprise.

"What makes me different then murderers like Grindelwald?" Her gaze shifted from Andorra to her uncle then back to Andorra again.

Andorra was about to respond to her like she would a child, but she stopped herself. Though a twelve-year old with a twelve-year old's immaturity, this was one area that Andorra had a feeling that she wouldn't be allowed to treat Jessica her age.

"In some cases of murder," Andorra said calmly, looking straight into the girl's eyes, "even if it's premeditated, it can be considered justifiable homicide. That means that the person felt in immediate fatal danger, or, in your case, that someone else was in immediate danger, and you had to stop it. Even though you planned the murder much earlier than the act, you didn't do it until you felt in immediate fatal danger. Riley has evidence that you felt in immediate danger prior to the act, so you're planning how to do it much sooner weighs little to the case. Or so we hope. We won't know until the trial tomorrow."

"That would…" she looked at her little brother.

"Justify," Casey supplied.

"That would justify," Jessica continued, "the murder of Aurors by bad guys, wouldn't it?"

Andorra was startled. She exchanged a surprised glance with Daniel. He looked equally surprised by the girl's perceptiveness.

"If there's something Jessica understands well," Casey said, going to sit at the kitchen table, "it's murder."

"Why do you understand murder so well?" Andorra asked softly.

Jessica merely gave her a dark look before going to sit at the table. "We got done with our meeting, Uncle Danny," she said, looking straight ahead, at no discernable spot. "Half the elf houses were ordered to leave the land and thus freed. We will need your house elves in order to keep the house running."

"Why did you free them?" Daniel asked, his hands sitting in the sink but not returning to the washing as he looked over his shoulder at his niece.

Casey, reaching behind himself to a shelf and surprising Daniel and Andorra by pulling a book from the shelf, answered, "They were Dad's house elves. We didn't trust them."

"I'm sorry that we did it without telling you, Sir," Jessica added, her eyes still on her spot, "but we did not feel that we had much time to lose. Father once threatened that if he were gone, we could still be harmed. We wanted to get his spies out as soon as possible." Suddenly, Jessica looked at Casey as he turned to look at her. Her face didn't break emotion, but she raised her eyebrows as though replying to him, though neither child spoke aloud. Casey went to his book without a word.

"Andorra, I would invite you for dinner, but I think the three of us need to have a talk."

Andorra turned to Daniel. His face was calm, but he was angry, she knew. Very angry. But although angry, she knew he wouldn't hurt the kids. Something they said had upset him. What it was, she didn't know, because it could have been every word out of their mouth. They were treating him as a stranger.

Andorra nodded at him. "That's fine. I already ate." She put her hand on his arm and gave a squeeze, trying to tell him it would be all right with her look.

He seemed to understand, giving her a tight smile and nodding.

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_That was a good lie._

Jessica merely raised her eyebrows at her brother. The lie didn't affect her conscience…that was, until Uncle Danny asked Andorra to leave. He sounded angry.

Jessica remained resolutely with her eyes in front of herself, her right hand resting on her left, her left resting on the table.

With a startling realization, she realized she was scared. Scared of Uncle Danny.

He sat across from her, blocking the spot in space she had been staring at, the spot that she had counted on for the comfort of being back in the house. She was forced to look up at Danny.

"Jessica, you will never call me 'Sir' again."

"Sorry, S…Uncle Danny."

Uncle Danny looked about to say something before mumbling to himself and running a hand through his hair, making it damp and leaving suds on his forehead. He looked accusingly at his hand when he was done. The sud in the middle of his forehead caused her to smile. Danny looked curiously at her.

"You've got a sud on her forehead," she replied.

He laughed quietly as he wiped at his forehead before frowning at the same time she did.

"You know, Jessica…you too, Casey, the both of you, I've been wracking my brain for months, trying to understand why you guys didn't tell me anything. Maddie told me in her letter that I was to trust that you guys know what you're doing."

Jessica and Casey exchanged a look before Jessica asked, "What letter?"

Danny opened his mouth before closing it then opening it again. Finally, he glanced away as he answered, "Your mother wrote me a letter and put it in some of my stuff. I found it when looking in it for…after your father died."

Jessica exchanged a look with her brother.

"One thing I've begun to wish when it comes to the Mighty Blood and you two is that the benefit of the sibling connection was also between an uncle and his niece and nephew."

The two looked back at him with a grin.

"I have one question before we start dinner. Actually, a few. The first one will be a big one."

Both kids merely nodded for him to continue.

"Did your father ever discuss the legend of the Mighty Blood with anyone? Like your Uncle Jonathon?"

There was a very short pause before Jessica shook her head. "No, not that I know of."

Casey backed her up by shaking his head as well.

Daniel sighed. "Okay, next question. Are you guys sure you want to live here? I have a perfectly capable apartment not far from here."

Jessica nodded without a glance at her brother. "This is where Mom lived."

Daniel slowly nodded, his hazel eyes glancing at his nephew. Casey didn't make a motion one way or the other.

"Dad only lived on one side of the house. His house elves kept an eye on the rest of the house. Mom lived on the side that we lived.

Danny looked at Casey. "Case, what do you think?"

"I agree," he said quietly. "It will take awhile to not constantly remember that day in the study, or the other days, but this was Mom's house too."

Pausing a moment, Danny looked to be considering their arguments before nodding. "Okay…for now. The second I don't think it's healthy for either of you, we're going to my apartment."

Jessica suddenly, with such clarity it startled her, remembered the feel of the blood on her body the night Mom had died. Uncontrollably, she had shivered and cried. She remembered sobbing so loud it was like screaming to her ears. Dad had grabbed her in a hug. Uncle Danny was standing by her bed as Father had sat on it to grab her. She looked up at her uncle, about to tell him, but Father whispered in her ear, "Your brother needs your help more than anything now. You need to calm down for him, for his own…life." She was only seven years old at the time, but, at that moment, she knew what it was like to want to kill someone. She remembered staring at his throat, remembering one time when he had grabbed Mom's throat and the noises and gasps she had made, the kneel that Father had been able to force her into, his hands on her white throat. And then, in that bed, Father whispered to his daughter, "For your brother," and he had forced her to turn to the six year old in the bed right next to her. Casey was sitting there, staring at her, his quick and able mind trying desperately to comprehend what was going on. And something that didn't happen that often, happened. Jessica had figured out what was going on before her brother had.

Jessica had turned back to her father and nodded.

Presently, Jessica merely stared at her uncle.

"What's wrong, Jessica?" Danny asked, staring back evenly at his niece.

"You'll find out at the trial," she murmured. "For now, I want to win against Father. This was Mom's house. It wasn't Father's."

Danny slowly nodded. "But the second you want to, my apartment is there."

Jessica nodded.

"Let's eat," she said when everything quieted. Danny used his wand to set the table. While he was distracted, Jessica glanced at her brother.

_It's going to be weird living with Uncle Danny,_ Casey said.

Jessica merely nodded to the chicken Uncle Danny had cooked.

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The day of the trial, Riley stared at his hands. He hadn't slept at all last night and therefore had a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. His second cup of coffee of the morning. Next to it sat a full glass of water. Next to that was a pitcher full of water.

Off to his right on the table sat his evidence. It was in discrete, unmarked bags, but he knew what each bag contained. And the one that had kept him up most of the night sat closest to him.

He heard the door at the back of courtroom open. It sounded as though several people entered. He waited for the door to close before he glanced over his shoulder to see who else had entered the room. Oh, great. It was his team. And Daniel. And minus Mark, who was a witness and thus had to wait outside the courtroom until his turn for the stand. Riley gave another glance over his shoulder and made eye contact with Josh Benson. Josh, the more muscular of the twin brothers, sat next to Daniel. Kevin sat in front of Daniel. Riley had asked the two to be prepared to hold their team lead down if the need arose, which he doubted it would, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He knew that there would be extra security in here – the Supreme Interrogators informed him of such at their meeting last night – but he also knew Daniel. He was less likely to injure a member of his own team.

Riley had tried only one case in front of the Supreme Interrogat by himself. He had stepped in for a fallen comrade. It had been a rather short, ordinary, easy case. Other than that, he had team tried a few cases while in training and had done plenty of solo mock trials with former Supreme Interrogators. The only ones he truly feared to be a problem for him in this very real, very lonesome trial were Tatianna Melovic, who had made it abundantly clear that she didn't trust him at all let alone with this case, and Andorra Dumbledore, who had pulled him aside last night and told him she was not going to give him mercy just because she had assigned him to this case. Other than that, he wasn't that nervous about presenting the case because of where it was.

He was unraveled because of last night. He had lain for twenty minutes with a seven-year old's shirt over his face, the shirt that had been drenched in her mother's blood and had never been washed, a shirt that smelled dirty and musty. He had lain there, trying to live for twenty minutes like that seven-year old who had conceived of murder under that very shirt.

And today he was going to have to tell twelve cynical people what that was like. And he was also going to have to tell Daniel.

Suddenly, the door in the front of the court opened. Riley stood up, knowing without checking that the entire courtroom stood up as well. The Supreme Interrogators walked in. Melovic led the group, followed by Andorra Dumbledore, and, after her, the Head of International Magical Cooperator Ben Zeckaroy, the Headmistress of Salem's Institute, Ellen Vallen, and following her were eight more people. Bringing up the tail was Julian Hammonds, the little twerp. He was a Court Scribe and had gone to school with Riley and Mark. He had taken great pleasure in getting Riley into trouble when he could, Vallen loving every moment of it.

Matter of fact, Riley's only real ally on the bench was Andorra, and she had informed him she wouldn't be an ally. Zeckaroy maybe, but he made sure to let Riley constantly know that he was neutral on the Dark Operators. Other than Zeckaroy, Andorra, and Melovic, no one else in the Department knew about the Dark Operators – they just knew Riley was a good Auror who worked closely with a certain group of people.

Once seated, Melovic seemed about to motion to the security detail on the door, but just then, Ignatius Malfoy pushed himself into the courtroom. He quickly took a seat in the front…behind where Jessica and Casey would sit. Riley spun a pleading look onto Melovic. She saw it. Last night, they had agreed that no one would sit in proximity to the kids.

"Mr. Malfoy—"

"Minister Malfoy," he corrected.

"Mr. Malfoy," Melovic continued, causing several people to hide their grins behind their hands or well-placed coughs. "As per agreement last night, we will not have anyone sitting that close to the children or to Mr. Haderson. If you could please move back a few rows." Though the sentence seemed like a request, her tone did not denote it as such. Malfoy looked ready to spit nails, but he did as asked by moving back two rows, still leaving two rows between himself and the Dark Operators.

When he was settled, Melovic nodded to the security detail on the door. He opened the door and motioned to someone on the other side. He backed away to allow two pairs to enter: Jessica, being led by an Auror, and Casey, being led by an Auror as well. They were brought to the two chairs in the front. The chairs were large and somewhat separate, with chains hanging, waiting for a criminal they feared. Today apparently would not be the day that put a temporary end to the eternal wait for they strapped in neither child.

From his brief look, he noticed that Jessica seemed rather calm. On the other hand, though outwardly seemingly calm, Casey was clasping the handles of the chair tightly.

"Let's begin," Melovic said, Hammonds diligently starting his job, "This is a criminal hearing of the twenty-first of June, 1973, looking into the offence of Magical Criminal Statue 4, also known as criminal homicide, by Jessica Celerina Elizabeth Madeline Montgomery Ziners, resident of Briana Manor on the Department of Magic. We are also looking into the offence of Magical Criminal Statue 4.3, also known as criminal conspiracy to commit murder, by Casey Jackson Riley Daniel Jeffery Tom Salazar Marvolo Montgomery Ziners, also resident of Briana Manor on the Department of Magic.

"Supreme Interrogators are Tatianna Helen Melovic, Secretary of Magic, Andorra Elizabeth Amelia Susannah Dumbledore, Head of the Department of Magical Enforcement…" and on she went, listing all twelve members, finishing off with identifying the Court Scribe.

"The defendant, Jessica Ziners, is specifically charged with the homicide of one Jeffery Casey Andrew Remington Birch Ziners, the father of both of the defendants. Casey Ziners is charged with conspiracy to commit the previously mentioned homicide.

"The Investigator of the charges is Riley Matthew Haderson, Level Black Commander, Ten Marked Investigator." There was a momentary surprised, shocked, and nearly horrified look by Ellen Vallen, who hadn't known of his high marks, the highest marks possible for an Investigator.

Melovic looked at Riley. "And what was the final conclusion of your investigation?"

Riley stood up. "Self-defense," he replied, not looking at anyone but the Supreme Interrogators.

"That's a far cry from the previous charge of premeditation," Vallen said in dismay.

"This case was not as it seemed initially," Riley replied, his voice very passive. "Because that tends to be the situation every now and again, we investigate."

"Whatever it may be," Melovic said before any further comment could be made, "we'll discover today. Mr. Haderson, call your first witness."

"I call Miss Lily Evans."

The young red-haired girl was led in from the hall. She was clearly nervous but walked with her head forcibly held high. She looked at Jessica and Casey as she walked past them but only Casey glanced at her.

Lily was led to a solitaire chair that was set up between Riley's table and the bench of the Supreme Interrogat and faced in the opposite way.

"Please state your name for the court," Riley said, starting the preliminaries. When he was finished, he questioned Lily about the letter she had written to Marcus Potter and the circumstances that had prompted her to write the letter. Nothing that she offered was proof that there was abuse, but Riley was attempting to shape Jessica's personality for the court. To back this up, he asked Lily how she would describe her friend and her friend's brother, whom Lily then corrected as also being her friend. Lily had a good time describing them, telling the court how Jessica was a very courageous person, nice to whom she liked, and not taking any bad thing from anybody, _especially being protective of her brother_, which was key to Lily Evans testimony.

At the end of her testimony, Riley excused her with a smile. When she was out of the courtroom, he called Molly Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was able to put a more adult perspective on both of the children's personalities, speaking specifically to Jessica's anger streak. Mrs. Weasley was also able to start Riley's proof that Jessica was indeed being abused, describing the markings on Jessica's back. But she was also able to tell a specific pattern of behavior, stemming as far back as the children's mother.

"What was Jeffery Ziners like?"

Molly frowned. "He was an extremely stern man. Rarely smiled."

Here, Riley stopped her. "And when was it that he smiled?"

"When he was proud of Jessica."

"But what about when he was proud of his son?"

"What does this line of questioning have to do with anything?" Vallen objected.

"I am trying to establish Miss Ziners' mode of thinking that led up to the day of the murder by relying on more than just the testimony of the children. Jeffery Ziners kept his family affairs very private, and Mrs. Weasley does have some knowledge on how Jeffery Ziners treated his children. This is very relevant to what led Miss Ziners to her actions on December 25, 1972."

Vallen sighed but nodded, accepting his argument.

"You may answer the question," Melovic instructed Molly Weasley.

"Jeffery never smiled with pride for Casey. He once told me that there was never a reason."

"You objected to this, did you not, Mrs. Weasley?"

She nodded. "Jeffery told me that I had better watch myself or that they suddenly may not have time to visit. That was the first time I ever spoke my fear aloud."

Riley, who was pacing in front of Mrs. Weasley, asked without looking at her, "And what was your fear?"

"I feared that Jeffery was physically and mentally abusing Madeline and the children.

"I always knew that Jeffery was a strict and stern man. When I first met him, I saw a romantic, charming, good-looking young man when it came to Madeline, Jessica and Casey's mother. He always seemed to have a very tender spot when it came to Maddie, but, to everyone else, he was this very strict and stern man.

"A year after Madeline and Jeffery had married, they separated for a time. Maddie became an Assistant Professor of Potions at Hogwarts for that time. That's where I met her."

"Did Madeline Ziners ever tell you why she separated from her husband for that time?" Riley inquired calmly.

"No, but I overheard the reason when they had an argument one time. Jeffery had come to visit Madeline at Hogwarts. I came down to the Potions classroom one night for our weekly tutoring session. Madeline was in the classroom already, and the door was ajar. Before I was able to announce myself, I heard a man that I didn't recognize at the time start talking."

"Would you learn who this man was through this conversation and later on actually meet him?"

Molly nodded. "Yes. It was Jeffery Ziners."

"Did you hear what Madeline and Jeffery said in the classroom that night?"

Molly nodded again. "I didn't mean to though. I was about to walk away to get a snack before the session, to give Maddie time with her visitor, when I heard something that made me stay."

"And what did you hear?"  
"Jeffery said that he hit her in anger and wouldn't do so again. Madeline started to cry. She told him that she did not want to be in an abusive situation, that she couldn't trust him anymore. He was pleading for her to come back with him, but she told him that she couldn't. She couldn't trust him yet. Finally, after they talked for a period of time, Jeffery was able to convince her to start dating him again, so she could learn to trust him again. She agreed."

"And was there a time that you came to believe that Jeffery had hit her again?"

Molly hesitated, glancing at her lap before looking back at Riley and speaking again, "It was almost immediately after Casey was born. It was a week afterwards to be precise. Maddie came to the house…Arthur's and my house one night. She was barely holding it together. She didn't say anything, but I saw the bruises on her arms. I asked her if Jeffery had put them there, but she denied it." Molly paused, taking a deep breath. She was near tears. "Maddie was afraid for her kids I know. She was terrified. She said that I needed to help her with something, and that I couldn't question it. She said that it would be dangerous…dangerous to her babies if I questioned it…if I ever questioned it to Maddie or to anyone else."

When Molly paused, Riley urged to her to continue. "And what did you do, Mrs. Weasley?"

Molly looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "I had no choice, Mr. Haderson. I had to help her without question. Her babies were in danger. I wanted to say something," her voice took on a pleading quality and her eyes went to Daniel's. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I'm so sorry." Her eyes turned to Jessica and Casey, but she was only able to catch Casey's. "I'm sorry, kids. I'm sorry that I didn't say anything sooner."

"Mrs. Weasley," Riley said before Melovic had a chance to say something, "they know you're sorry. Right now, we have to focus on what you did for Madeline that night."

Molly turned back to Riley. Taking a minute before responding, she took a handkerchief from a pocket on her dress to dab at her nose. "Maddie needed a lawyer. She needed to make up a second will.

"She told me that she had made a will the day of Casey's birth. I asked why she wanted to make a new one so soon, but she refused to tell me. She reminded me that I promised not to ask questions."

Riley was quiet as he inquired, "Do you know what the second will contained?"

Molly nodded. "Yes. She was keeping her money from Jeffery and his friends. Her money and her books."

"Did Maddie tell you that that was what was in the second will?"

Molly shook her head. "Not directly. I read it."

"You read it?"

"Yes. She gave me a copy for safekeeping."

Riley went to his table and took a paper from beside his stack of notes. He handed Molly the paper. "Is this the second will?"

Molly looked it over before nodding. "Yes. It's the copy I gave to Jeffery."

"How do you know that?"

"Maddie had a number copies of the will made. She gave it to certain people for safekeeping. Specifically, she gave me three copies of the will. One for Arthur to hide, one for me to hide, and one for me to give to Jeffery when he came searching for it. She numbered each of the wills. This one has a number five in the upper left corner. That is the one I gave Jeffery."

Riley handed the will to Melovic. "Secretary Melovic, can you verify that this is the same will that the Supreme Interrogators examined last night?"

Melovic looked it over before nodding. "I, Secretary Tatianna Melovic, verify that Mrs. Molly Weasley has identified the will the Supreme Interrogators examined in the Examination of Evidence as being the second will of Madeline Ziners."

Riley set the will back on his table before resuming his questioning of Molly. "Mrs. Weasley, there came a time when you thought the abuse may have stopped if it had been going on in the first place, was there not?"

Molly hesitated a minute before nodding, tears slowly running down her face. "I thought Jeffery had been abusing Madeline but not the children. I knew that Maddie had feared for them, but they showed no signs of having been abused. When Maddie died, I thought that there wasn't a reason to worry. It didn't matter though. I worried fiercely for those kids anyway. I wanted to tell someone, but I couldn't. My husband Arthur and I talked for hours about it. They didn't show any outward signs of abuse. We feared that we didn't have enough evidence and that Jeffery might hide the kids from us as a result." Her voice breaking, she shook her head, "We should have said something sooner."  
"There came a time when you did say something though, right?" Riley urged.

Molly nodded. "It was the first physical sign of abuse we saw. It was the first time Jessica couldn't explain it away easily."

"What was it?" Riley asked, urging her to talk despite the tears and choked sobs.

"I walked in on her while she was in the bathroom. She had the back of her shirt up and was putting ointment on a wound on her back."

"Had you seen a wound like it before?"  
Molly nodded. "A few weeks before the incident in the bathroom, Arthur and I were in Hogsmeade eating lunch. We were just on our way home when some men stumbled out of a bar. One was bleeding quite badly, and, like a madman, started to yank off his shirt as he howled in pain. There were wounds on his back. It looked like spider webbing. Arthur told me that he had been injured by a Cruciatus Curse. That's what the wounds on Jessica's back looked like. Jessica said that she had been injured on the farm from the kids horsing around, but I didn't think that was true. So I told Arthur. Together, Arthur and I agreed. We had to say something."

"And who did you speak to?"

"It was Arthur. He spoke to Marcus Potter."

Riley nodded. "One more thing, Mrs. Weasley."

She waited and looked at him expectantly.

"How protective is Miss Ziners of her brother?"  
"_Very_ protective. I remember one time, when the children were just about only four and five, Jessica and Casey were horsing around. They started to get annoyed at each other though and started to become very harsh. Jessica accidentally smacked Casey's head against the corner of a wall, causing him to bleed. I'm pretty sure that Jessica cried more tears than Casey had. She kept holding him and saying that she was sorry and that she wouldn't allow anything like that to happen again. About a year later, I was visiting the ranch when Jessica was brought to her father by one of the other parents. Jessica had a bloody lip and a swollen eye. Apparently, a few of the other boys had decided to pick on Casey because he was so small. Jessica, the woman said, took on all of them."

Without grinning, Riley, his back to Jessica and Casey, asked Molly, "Did she win?"

Molly nodded. "The other boys were in worse condition, the woman said."

Riley nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. That will be all."

When Molly left the courtroom, Riley said, "I call Mr. Marcus Potter to the stand."

The security detail poked his head out of the doors of the courtroom. A moment later, Marcus Potter was allowed to enter the room. He took the witness seat and looked at Riley. He was by far the calmest witness the chair had housed today.

"Please state your name and position to the court."

"Is his position even relevant, Investigator?" Vallen complained. She surprised Riley with the label of respect she had so freely offered, causing him to smile inwardly for a second.

"Yes, it is. It's important to note Mr. Potter's position to note how serious he took the news that Mr. Weasley brought to him. He is more highly qualified than to take on an abuse case. It is important to note that he did it despite his position because of how much he, himself, thought the charges to be serious and difficult to handle considering Mr. Ziners' national and international position."

When she just stared angrily at him, Riley looked at Melovic. She nodded. Riley turned back to Marcus.

"Please state your name and position to the court," he repeated.

"Marcus Potter, Head of Major Cases, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Ministry of Magic in England."

"Where are you on the chain of command in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry?"  
"I am third in command."

Riley nodded before turning the direction of his questioning. "How long have you known Jessica Ziners?"  
"Since she was four. I was taking a meeting here in America with some fellow Aurors. She," he grinned, "crashed the meeting."

"How did she crash the meeting?" Riley asked without grinning.

"Again, I ask the relevance," Vallen sighed.

Marcus held up his hand before Riley had a chance to respond, causing the Interrogator to give Marcus a curious look, but the Auror was looking at Melovic.

"Madam Secretary, if I may answer Headmaster's Vallen question…" Marcus' hand slowly and awkwardly went down. Riley, his eyes on Marcus, barely covered his grin. The awkwardness was an act solely for the benefit of Melovic. Riley knew he was in the presence of a genius and duly took note of Marcus' actions for future references in his own interactions with Melovic.

"Yes, you may, Mr. Potter," Melovic responded, almost beating Riley's grin back to his face.

"This story demonstrates one side of Jessica that I got to know. It is important to see this side I knew, as well as the other side that I knew, because it plays directly into my decision to investigate Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's allegations."

Satisfied, she concurred. "Continue with your answer to Mr. Haderson's question."

Marcus nodded at her before turning back to Riley. "We were at a meeting. Daniel Montgomery was there as well. I had gone to school with Daniel, so I knew him. At that point, I didn't know him well, but I knew him. I also knew his sister, Madeline. I knew she had had two kids, one being a young girl.

"When Jessica came in, she walked in like she owned the place. She looked around the table until she spotted her Uncle Danny, who, by the time she spotted him, had turned beat red. Jessica did not notice. She screamed his name, ran to a chair, jumped on it then jumped on the table, ran right across the table, and leapt onto Daniel's lap. After giving him a hug and a sloppy kiss, she sat in his lap, looked around the table, and said, 'Hi!' Many at the table replied in kind. It was only a second later when Jeffery Ziners walked in the room. I had my back to the door, so I didn't see him at first, but I noticed an immediate change in Jessica."

Riley was sure Marcus hadn't noticed, but Riley had, having kept an eye on her. During the trial so far, Jessica had not once looked up, but now she was. She was avidly listening to Marcus' story.

"She froze, a panicked look in her eyes. I remember thinking, 'a toddler shouldn't look know that panic.' I turned to see what had caused it. Jeffery Ziners was standing in the doorway, wearing a patient grin. He didn't look any different from other fathers. But, yet, this little girl was panicked.

"Jeffery started towards his daughter. She went to him, though she never let go of that look. Even when he smiled at her. There was nothing different in that smile. Jeffery was as human as the rest of us in that room. Nothing denoted anything different in Jeffery Ziners from a normal, loving father. Except that little girl's eyes.

"I didn't know anyone in that family that well. I kept my mouth shut."

"How would you describe Jessica Ziners?"

"She is a precocious child, smart-mouth at times, a bit out-going, and friendly. She and my son get on well. Both love Quidditch and are very competitive. Despite that, they manage to still get along, which says something to character of both children."

"How would you describe Casey Ziners?"

"Extremely intelligent. More soft-spoken than his sister, but he doesn't take any flack from her. A quick wit, also like his sister. He's friendly when you get to know him, but he appears a bit standoffish at first."

"How would you characterize the relationship between Miss Ziners and her brother?"

"Jessica's very protective of Casey. One time, when my son James and I had run into the Ziners in Hogsmeade, I noticed something interesting. Jessica was talking to James about joining the Quidditch team at Hogwarts when they were old enough. They had another month before they even started their first year at Hogwarts, but yet they were talking about it," Marcus chuckled. "Anyway, I was talking to another Auror. Jeffery was in the store across the street, and Casey was waiting outside the store for him. When Jeffery came out, he started talking with his son. Though James kept trying to talk to her, Jessica's attention had noticeably moved. She kept an eye on Casey, almost like a mother. And though I had taken note of this that particular time, it didn't surprise me. Jessica was always like that with her brother.

"What I found particularly interesting about Jessica's protectiveness of her brother at this time was the fact that he was with their father."

"Did you note any other peculiar behavior Miss Ziners had around her father?"

"She usually became extremely quiet around him, obeying orders without question. That could mean that he was just a strict father, but I always wondered. Both kids would be grounded for many months at a time for just minor things. But, again, each parent is different.

"I also could name a number of mysterious wounds, but your honors have those in my official report," Marcus nodded to the Supreme Interrogators. "All of it together made me wonder about the possibility. It was Mr. Weasley's stop at my office that urged me to check on my own gut feeling."

Riley questioned him about his visit with Arthur Weasley, and Marcus' subsequent visit to the ranch and questions about the wounds of branding irons. Marcus also spoke of Lily Evans' letter and how that only reaffirmed his commitment to investigating the situation to the fullest. Riley questioned him on everything.

Then Riley asked about Christmas Day. He asked what he saw as he and Daniel had ascended the hill, what they had seen upon entering the study, and about bringing the children to Hogwarts.

And, to the surprise of everyone but the one sitting in the witness chair, that's precisely where he stopped questioning Marcus Potter. He never asked him about anything that happened at Hogwarts. He just asked him where they had brought the kids. Then he excused him from the witness chair.

"Your next witness, Mr. Haderson?" Melovic asked when Marcus left the courtroom.

"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jessica's eyes move to Vallen. She expected the woman to object to this witness, but Vallen kept her mouth shut. Riley had already fought this battle with her last night. He had also fought this battle with Melovic and with Andorra, but neither showed a sign of it.

Albus Dumbledore took the chair and looked even less nervous than the last witness. He merely smiled expectantly at Riley.

"Please state your name, your position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and how you know the defendants."

"That's a good number of questions, Interrogator. Let me see if I can get them right…" Riley smiled. Dumbledore looked off to the side, "My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I am the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Both defendants are students at that same school. Jessica is a second year student, Casey is a first year student, both are members of the Slytherin House, and both are awaiting their finals pending the outcome of this trial."

"I'm sure they enjoyed that reminder," Riley said with a smile. "Were you at Hogwarts this last Christmas Day?"

Albus nodded. "Yes, I was. I was eating dinner with some of the other professors, the students who hadn't gone home for Christmas Break, and some of the parents."

"Did you know that Mr. Potter was going to bring the defendants to Hogwarts that day?"

Albus nodded. "Yes. Mr. Potter and I had discussed it in advance. Prior to his getting an Order of Removal, he had asked me my thoughts on the matter of whether or not Jeffery Ziners was abusing his children. After Mr. Potter concluded in his own mind that removing the children was the best option at the time, he discussed with me the possibility of moving the kids to the school temporarily. He suspected it wouldn't be that long."

"Why not?"

"He suspected their uncle would take custody once the initial shock wore off for all parties involved."

"Mr. Potter asked you your thoughts on the matter of the child abuse. What _were_ your thoughts on it?"

"If you're asking me if I had ever seen something to make me suspicious, no, I had not. Other than my instinct…the change in demeanor of both children…" Here, Dumbledore gave an extremely uncharacteristic pause. His eyes briefly flickered to the children, causing Riley to look at them as well. From the angle that the Supreme Interrogators were sitting, they would never have noticed it, but Albus and Riley both would have. Though she had resumed her stare-down of the floor, Jessica's eyes did move and for one moment in time, she looked at Dumbledore in curious surprise.

"Other than those two things," Dumbledore continued as though he had not paused, "I did not notice any other signs of abuse."

Riley wanted to back Dumbledore's gut up with making a mention of his teaching experience and his experience as an Auror, but that was beyond the limitations of the scope of questioning the Supreme Interrogators had allowed him. He didn't worry too much about it because he knew every one of those Supreme Interrogators knew of his record, even if they didn't know the exact number of years he had exerted at each profession.

"Can you describe for the court the events that occurred after the Ziners children arrived at Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore did. As he described in detail Daniel Montgomery's struggle with his niece for her life, Riley noticed that all of the Supreme Interrogators – with the exception of Andorra Dumbledore – had stopped taking notes. Even Vallen looked deeply interested in what Dumbledore was saying.

He described the struggle and the shock that caused the adults unable to move for a period of time. He also described a young student's courageous journey to put a halt to Jessica's attempted suicide. He made sure to subtly add in his opinion that Jessica Ziners' actions were not that of a cold-blooded killer but the acts of a person feeling a deep remorse.

When the Headmaster finished, Riley asked directly (and quickly, fearing he would be stopped by an objection from the Supreme Interrogators), "You've had experience as an Auror. You have seen a person after they murdered another person. What is your assessment of how Miss Ziners responded to her actions of having murdered her father?"

"There are two ways they can be viewed," Albus responded thoughtfully. "The first is the most obvious, but though obvious, it does not mean that it is any less likely. The first assessment can be that Miss Ziners realized she was going to get into trouble for her actions and thought death would be better than what other punishment could stem from her actions.

"The other assessment is a bit more complicated and could not be arrived at without knowing the facts as we have them here, thereby making it much less obvious. Her brother was being slowly tortured to death. If their father regularly abused them, she may have learned the only way you can fight force is with force. And honestly, at that moment, there may have not been another way."

Riley nodded. "Thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore. You are dismissed."

Dumbledore merely nodded before exiting the courtroom.

Riley called on Minerva McGonagall next. This got a slight response from Jessica in the form of a small, startled jump, but she didn't look at him. Once seated, Riley asked McGonagall of her position at Hogwarts and how she knew the kids. He then proceeded asking her opinion on the kids, which were far less favorable than the ones before her. And then Riley asked her about Christmas Day and what happened at Hogwarts. She talked about the attempted suicide and how Jessica could have killed every person there with the way she was acting – which was out of control, in her opinion. Then Riley asked her what she thought was going through Jessica's head. She told the same story Dumbledore had and then about comments Jessica had made afterwards about the evil within her. That's when Riley excused her.

"I next call Special Assistant to the Minister of Magic Amelia Black."

Riley forced himself not to react when Jessica turned to him in surprise.

When Amelia was seated, Riley proceeded to ask her opinion on the Ziners kids. Her opinion was less concrete because she had only officially met the children the day of the incident, but Amelia supplied the opinion of her son, which was far less favorable than McGonagall's.

Then Riley went on to the real reason Amelia Black was up there. He wanted her to talk about cleaning Casey Ziners up after the attack. For that fact, he could have chosen either Black or the school nurse, Pomfrey. He had gone with Black for two reasons – she had a layman's point of view when it came to the wounds and she had little to no opinion on the children. He wanted to attempt balance the scales that way.

Riley first asked her of her assessment of Jessica's attempted suicide. Black said that she thought it looked like Jessica was disgusted with her actions, her opinion of that only being reinforced by her overhearing Jessica's repeated acceptance of the forthcoming punishment, not denying her guilt in the least. Jessica thought she was a murderer, and that was that. They should lock her up and throw away the key. Those very things coming from her forced Black to think that all Jessica was doing that day was saving her brother, not killing a father with a criminal intention.

And then Riley got to Casey's injuries.

"You helped clean up Casey Ziners, did you not?"

Black nodded. "Yes. He was extremely bloody. We had to use four full sized towels before we managed to make him examinable."

Riley went over to his table. Out of the far bag, he removed several bloody materials.

"Are these the towels that you used to clean up Casey Ziners?" Riley asked the question as he held up each towel for her to see.

Black nodded.

When Riley went to reach for the bloody items at the bottom of the bag, Melovic sighed loudly, drawing Riley's annoyed attention.

"What is the purpose of showing us the bloody towels, Interrogator?"

"The facts of what happened are not in dispute, Madam Secretary," Riley said, "but Miss Ziners' intention is. I want to give the Supreme Interrogators the view that Miss Ziners had that day. I will come back to the towels and the next item in my closing statement. For now, I want it verified in front of you that these items are indeed what I will present them to be."

"So be it," Melovic waved away.

"Thank you," Riley said before holding the last two items up. "Were these the clothes that you removed from Casey Ziners on Christmas Day?"

There were some gasps from around the courtroom, but Riley didn't bother to see who it was. He knew the clothes were sickening. As he held them in front of his face, he could smell the stale blood. It was made even more sickening because of the size. The t-shirt was small. Up at the collar, you could tell that the shirt had once been blue. Now, it was black and dark red. Next, Riley held the pants up. They were little trousers, the suspenders still attached. The suspenders use to be a tan, but you couldn't even tell what color the trousers use to be.

They were clothes any regular little kid could wear. And they looked like someone had been murdered in them.

Black slowly nodded. She didn't look detached anymore, though she didn't shed a tear. "Yes, they are the clothes we removed from Casey Ziners on Christmas Day."

Riley nodded, carefully folding the clothes and setting them on the table.

"You're excused," Riley said. Melovic called a lunch break then. After the break, Riley called Rohan Figg to the stand.

Once Rohan Figg was seated in the witness chair, Riley commanded, "Please state your name and profession."

"Rohan Figg. I'm a Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I work in the Spell Damage Department, with a specialty in Dark Magic."

"When did you first meet Jessica and Casey Ziners?"

"This past Christmas Day – December 25, 1972."

"Can you describe how this first meeting came about?"

"It was a busy Christmas Day. All sorts of mishaps, you know." Rohan grinned briefly. "Anyhow, it was evening when an old school mate of mine – Stephen Medley – came to St. Mungo's to retrieve me. An eleven-year old boy had been severely injured, and it was suspected to be from the Cruciatus Curse. Stephen described the wounds to me, and I suspected that he was correct in suspecting that they were from the Cruciatus. And, to be perfectly honest, though I rushed, I suspected that it was already too late. Something you need to understand about the Cruciatus Curse is that, held on too long, it cracks the skin before it will every touch the brain, but when it starts to crack the skin on the forearms," at this point, Rohan pointed to his own elbow and downwards, "Just as it starts to do this, the brain will, at the same time, start to shut down, one function at a time. At fewer than three centimeters below the elbow, the victim is usually completely brain dead. When Stephen retrieved me at St. Mungo's, he told me that the skin just below Mr. Ziners' elbow was starting to crack."

"You proceeded directly to Hogwarts?"

Rohan nodded. "Right after I grabbed my medical bag, we went to Hogwarts. I went straight to the Hospital Ward. Madam Pomfrey – Hogwart's school nurse – along with Brittany Potter, Amelia Black, and Molly Weasley, were tending to the children.

"I first examined the boy, since he was in immediate danger. I found that, yes, he was hit with a prolonged Cruciatus Curse. The cracks were just short of one centimeter below his elbow. Considering his height, weight, and age, I suspected that he was more than likely never going to wake up again and more than likely going to die within twenty-four hours."

"But he survived," Riley said.

Rohan nodded. "Miraculously. The boy found a reservoir of strength somewhere. I am very glad for it. But Mr. Ziners will have lifelong effects."

"What are these?"

"He may experience seizures. His hair has gray streaks through it now, mainly along the edges. He currently experiences and will continue to experience temporary lapses in which he ceases all actions for the space of about ten or so seconds."

"And Miss Ziners. What were her injuries?"

"She was beat with the Striking Curse. She suffered one large facial wound across her right cheek and one large head wound on her left temple. I believe that at some point she fell. While on the ground, she was hit at least once, and this caused the left side of her head to beat against the ground, knocking her temporarily unconscious."

Riley nodded, so intent into his pacing that he was only sparing Rohan a look and a stop when the Healer started answering a question. "When you examined both children, you noticed something else; isn't that right?"

Rohan nodded. "On Mr. Ziners, I noticed that the Cruciatus he received on Christmas Day was not his first prolonged one. He had scarring on his chest and on his back, which I believe to be in the range of four to six years old. There are also other scars on Mr. Ziners, including a particularly ugly one on his ankle that would currently be only nine to ten months old. I imagine he got it just before the start of this last school year. He also was beat pretty severely across his back with what I would guess to be the Striking Curse. I believe that this could have happened a year or two ago as well, but I believe that some old wounds were reopened, which makes the aging of the wound harder to determine. The newer beating was probably just a day or two before Christmas Day. There were a number of scars, Mr. Haderson. These are just some of them. Of all of them, I can tell you that kids have scars, but Mr. Ziners either had a death wish or these were inflicted upon him in the form of torture."

"And Miss Ziners?"

"She had a considerable less number of scars, though they held a similar story as her brother's. She has also been the victim of a few prolonged Cruciatus Curses. Though her brother received worse beatings, she definitely had more Cruciatus' than he did. She has a terrible scar on her back that has been reopened so many times that I sincerely doubt it will ever stop giving her pain. I can tell that she has – or someone has – been treating her wounds like any Healer would, but nothing could have stopped that particular pain that she will experience for the rest of her life.

"I can also tell that Mr. Ziners has been treated as well, but I could find no medical records, here or in Britain, that match the most severe of the wounds on either of these children."

Riley nodded thoughtfully before asking, "Do you have experience with things other than Dark Magic?"

Rohan nodded. "Yes. I have some training in psychology. Healers have to have some training in it. I have particular training in trauma victims."

Stopping completely, hands clasped behind his back, nose slightly in the air so he could look through glasses that had slipped down his nose a bit, Riley inquired softly, "And your assessment of these children?"

"If you are wondering if I would consider them traumatized children, I would not. They have been abused their entire lives. They know no other way to live. Were they terrified of anything, not regular fear but the fear of death and torture akin to what an undercover Auror has to live with? Yes, they were, but like every good Auror, they learned not to show it. They also convinced themselves that they didn't feel it, but it's there, ever present in their minds, especially in Jessica's mind.

"Jessica is _extremely_ protective of her brother, as I'm sure others have already told the court, but this isn't a normal protectiveness. This is an over-protectiveness. A child generally doesn't have this level of protectiveness over a sibling unless something has taught them to have it."

"Is there something else you noticed about the Ziners children?"

Rohan nodded. "It seems, at times, that Jessica's protectiveness is born out of some duty, almost like a guilt.

Giving him a grim smile and nod, Riley excused him from the chair.

"I call Mark Halmer to the stand."

Mark entered swiftly, as though he had been waiting by the door and listening at the crack for his name. But Riley knew better. Mark already knew he was behind Rohan in the witness list and had probably already had his hand on the door, waiting to feel for the security guards movement on the other side.

"Please state your name, rank, Investigative Marks, and involvement with this case."

"Mark Halmer, Level Black Lieutenant, Eight Marked Investigator, and I assisted in the investigation on the death of Jeffery Ziners."

"When you first entered the scene, what did you notice?"

"That Casey Ziners was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. I initially thought he was dead until I realized that Danny Montgomery wasn't weeping. I figured then that he was alive. The next thing I noticed was Jeffery Ziners. Though he wasn't lying in a pool of his blood, I was pretty sure he was dead."

"And why was that?"

"What caused myself and some others to enter the house was that Andre'a Kay had been looking out the window, at the house on the hill, at the time that a green light had come from the windows on the east side of the house. We figured that someone had used the Killing Curse. As I looked over the scene, seeing Jeffery on the floor, I saw that he must have been the victim. The only one standing was Jessica Ziners. She was bloody and panting, a crazy look in her eyes. I've seen that look before. It's the look of someone who's killed for the first time.

"When Danny first noticed Jessica, he started towards her as he was – on his hands and knees. She backed away as though in fear, which was surprising. Danny treated those kids better than anything in the world. She had no reason to fear him, and she knew that."

Riley nodded. "And after they left, we examined the scene. Can you expound on what we found?"

Mark nodded. "Jeffery was dead. He had been beaten before he had died, but after the examination of both Jessica's and Casey's wands, we discovered that it was not them that had beat him. There were also a number of items broken in the study. We determined that the things had been broken before the children ever entered the scene. After examining Jeffery Ziners bank records, we can only make a guess as to who had beaten him."

"What was our guess and how did we arrive at that conclusion?"

"We believe that Jeffery Ziners was banking this Lord Voldemort. Jonathon Ziners, the brother of the deceased, was arrested and convicted of treason involving this Lord Voldemort. We discovered that Jonathon Ziners had been leaking information to him. All through our investigation of the former secretary, we kept wondering why this Voldemort, who's proven to be a considerable foe, would ever trust Jonathon Ziners. Jonathon Ziners isn't the type of guy that could handle the particular mission we discovered him on without help from someone else. Neither of his two assistants – who were also convicted of treason – could have been the brains of the operation. We figured that maybe one of them was cleverer than he appeared, but then we figured Jeffery Ziners into the mix.

"Jeffery Ziners was incredibly intelligent. He had very good business sense and was also very good at charming people in order to succeed in his business ventures. He was the perfect 'brains' for Jonathon Ziners' operation. We are figuring that Jeffery introduced this Voldemort to Jonathon and when Jonathon became Secretary, he became the player in the game that we convicted him for. Jeffery Ziners would also have been the perfect go-between. Living on Department property, it was not unusual to see the brothers in contact. And Jeffery Ziners held frequent parties and saw several guests in his home, as well as traveled the world to parties and other business engagements. He could have easily made contact with this Voldemort, and no one would have seen it as out of the ordinary.

"Going on this hunch, we examined Jeffery Ziners' bank records, along with other business documents. What we could make of it – which wasn't much – told us that it was probable that he was financing Voldemort."

"You each have a copy of the bank statements," Riley said, looking at the Supreme Interrogat, before turning back to Mark. "Could you give us an example of an oddity in his bank records?"  
"One week before each attack in America that we have attributed to this Voldemort, there was a sizeable money transfer. Then, two days before each attack, all business stopped. Jeffery Ziners took no business meetings the day before and the day after each attack. All of this tends to be evident that something big was going down. But the most incriminating piece of evidence was seven very large sums of money going through Brazil. Our accountants investigated that trail. After Brazil, it went to Germany, then Albania before making its way into Gringotts Bank. All seven made it into the same account."

"Was there anything significant about this account?"

Mark nodded. "There was. Luckily, we didn't need to sweet talk the goblins to figure out what was special about this account.

"It's was closed by the Ministry of Magic after we interrogated Jonathon Ziners. It was a known account of this Lord Voldemort."

Starting his pacing again, Riley said, "But back to the day of Jeffery Ziners' death. Assuming that it was Voldemort that had done the beating, what would have enraged him that day, enraging him enough to beat Jeffery?"

"We imagined that Voldemort's strongest connection to Jeffery would have been the money. Jeffery had a bigger source to money than his business though. It was his wife's money. She had more money than he did, much more. We would also learn that Madeline Ziners had a set of books that had been passed down in her family. These books, according to Madeline Ziners' family members, contain working spells and potions that the family has kept under wraps because they believed the spells and the potions were too dangerous to be released to the world at large. This is something we imagine a man trying to start a war would want.

"Christmas Day, we found a copy of Madeline's will on Jeffery's desk. Upon investigating, we discovered it was actually a different copy than the original will. It was written one week after the first, which had been written on the day Casey was born."

Again, Riley held up the will he had shown Molly Weasley. "Is this the will we found on Jeffery Ziners' desk?"

Mark took it and looked it over carefully. His friend's close perusal nearly made Riley smile. It was an act to help him with Melovic and to prove to her that they were not taking this case lightly.

"Yes, this is the will that was located on Jeffery Ziners' desk on Christmas Day."

Again, Riley handed the will over to Melovic. "Secretary Melovic, can you verify that this is the same will that Molly Weasley identified as being the second will, the same will that she identified that she had given Jeffery Ziners herself, and the same will that you earlier identified as the will that the Supreme Interrogators examined last night?"

Surprisingly, Melovic gave it the same perusal this time as she gave it not only four and a half hours before, when Molly Weasley had been on the stand. "I, Secretary Tatianna Melovic, verify that Investigator Mark Halmer has identified the will that Mrs. Molly Weasley verified as having been a copy of Madeline Ziners' second will and also as the will Mrs. Molly Weasley gave Jeffery Ziners. I also verify that this is the same will that the Supreme Interrogators examined in the Examination of Evidence as being the second will of Madeline Ziners."

Riley took it back with a whispered thanks before setting the will back on his table. He had just realized that Melovic was examining the will so thoroughly again because she had wanted to make sure he didn't switch the wills. And though he didn't know why she thought he would change it and though he knew that it could have been perfectly innocent, he still thought to himself that Melovic was continuing not to trust his judgment on this case. And that was when Riley had his first doubts…about his conclusions…about if he could pull this case off.

As an Auror, doubts were a deadly thing. In a physical battle, doubts were dangerous. And they were no less dangerous here. This courtroom was just as deadly of a battle, especially when the majority of the Supreme Interrogat didn't trust him, especially on this case.

Riley had spent part of last night reminding himself not to let his heart got involved today. Because, today, it would be apparent. And it would let down the defendants. But the dangerous part here, in this psychological game between him and Melovic, was not the threat to Riley's job and professional life. The danger here was the loss of Jessica and Casey. And the frustration was that he was battling his own supposed allies for the lives of these kids.

And in that instant, his back still to the bench of the Supreme Interrogat, filling his glass with the pitcher of water, Riley thought, _this is exactly what Jessica felt, though she felt it much more for the stakes were much higher_.

His eyes concentrating on the glass as he swung it back, his eyes on the glass in an attempt to avoid making eye contact with his boss in the back of the courtroom, Riley thought to himself, _if Jessica could do that, I can do this_.

He set down his glass down and turned back to Mark. His friend was giving him a curious look, one that Riley ignored.

"What else of significance did we find on Jeffery Ziners' desk?"  
"Casey Ziners' wand. We called forth his previous spells only to discover minor spells, such as Lumos. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"We also examined Jeffery Ziners' wand, which we removed from the floor near his hand. We discovered the Cruciatus Curse obviously. We also discovered the Impediment Jinx and the Striking Curse, which is consistent with the Healer's report and both interrogations of the kids. We then went to Hogwarts to look at Jessica's wand. That is when we discovered that she had the Killing Curse, then the Slowing Jinx. The Killing Curse was evident that she did indeed murder her father, but the Slowing Jinx is what was intriguing. That is not an automatic curse before you kill. It's usually the Killing Curse, and that's it. We pondered the possibility of Jessica having used that to stop her father but based upon their positions upon others entering the room and their own versions of the story, we believe that that was not the case. Jessica Ziners thought out a way to murder her father, and she followed through with that plan on December 25, 1972."

Riley nodded at him. "Thank you, Mr. Halmer. You're excused."

Mark grunted and nodded as he left the witness chair. Just as the two had planned, Mark did not look at the kids nor did he look at their team as he passed them.

Riley turned back to his table. For the other witnesses, he had barely glanced at his notes, but, for this one, he grabbed them. The sheet was marked with the words 'Casey Ziners' on top.

"Next, I call Casey Ziners," Riley said, turning back to the Supreme Interrogat. He was surprised to find Melovic's eyes on him rather than the Auror leading Casey up to the witness chair. Her look was unreadable, causing Riley to move his own eyes to the kid in the chair.

"Please state—"

"My name and occupation for the court. I know. Casey Ziners, student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Mr. Ziners," Andorra said, her tone strictly business and her eyes only looking at the papers before her. "Please let the Interrogator finish his own question before you answer."

Casey had turned to Andorra as she had spoken, and his eyes stayed on her, his look almost startled. "Sorry."

"Mr. Ziners," Riley said, by way of trying to stop possible problems for Andorra, "how were you related to Jeffery Ziners?"

"He was my father."

"How are you related to Jessica Ziners?"

"She is my sister."

"How much older is your sister than you?"  
"One year to the date," he replied with a smile.

"You were born on the same day one year apart, right?"  
Casey nodded. "August 6."

"Are you close to your sister?"

"Very close. There's not a lot of kids on the ranch, so we play with each other."

"Is your sister protective of you?"  
"Yes, she is. It's kind of annoying at times, but…" he glanced at Jessica, "…it comes in handy sometimes too."

"Mr. Ziners, had your father ever hit your sister?"  
Casey paused a long time before nodding his head. "A few times he has. Usually he only uses the Cruciatus Curse on her. Sometimes the Striking Curse just to get her in line, but when it was a punishment, it was the Cruciatus Curse."

"You heard Molly Weasley talk about your sister putting some ointment on a wound on her back about two years ago. Do you remember her talking about that?"

Casey slowly nodded.

"Do you know what that injury was from?"

It was even slower than before, but he still nodded.

"Can you tell the court?"

Casey glanced at the Supreme Interrogators before looking at Jessica then back at Danny. He looked back at Riley. Riley feared that this would happen, that Casey would clam up with an audience.

Riley took a step over so that he blocked Casey's view of his sister and only gave him a partial view of his uncle. "Mr. Ziners, just look at me. What happened that gave your sister the mark on her back just before she started Hogwarts?"

Though his eyes held themselves on Riley and Riley alone, he was quiet so long Riley feared that was it, but finally the boy spoke, his voice quiet.

"It was just before Dad and Jessica were going to go to Lily's house. Lily lives in England. Dad invested in her father's business. They were going to have a meeting then going to go get Jessica's things for Hogwarts before she was going to stay the week before school with Molly and Arthur. We were at Uncle Jonathon's house. There was a party going on. We didn't know anyone at the party except for our cousin, Maria, and her friend, Harriet, so Jessica and I stuck together. I was following Jessica into the kitchen to get something to drink when I tripped over my shoelaces. I broke one of Aunt Jaclyn's vases. She wasn't around, but Uncle Jonathon was. He and Dad were both in the kitchen. Uncle Jonathon pushed Jessica out of the way in order to grab at me. He held me up by my arm, screaming so much in my face that my face was drenched in his spit. Dad grabbed me from him and held me up against the refrigerator by my shirt. He kept pounding me into the refrigerator. I remember getting this really bad headache from it.

"Anyway, he did something, I don't really know what, but it…it really made Jessica mad. She spit at Dad. I don't know why she did that. She should have just stayed out of it, but she never did ever stay out of things.

"Anyway, Dad dropped me onto the ground and gave Jessica the Cruciatus Curse. She was on the ground, her body moving from the Cruciatus, and I remember Uncle Jonathon laughing at her. He kept telling her that she looked like a fish.

"I tried to get up and beat up Uncle Jonathon, but he hit me back down, and I blacked out."

Riley looked down, biting his lower lip, before asking, his voice almost hoarse, "Why didn't you try to beat up your father?"

When Riley looked up, he saw the same jaw movements that the boy's sister had when she was asked something that upset her and she couldn't find a way to answer. When Casey finally responded, his voice was low, "Because he would have killed me. He wouldn't kill Jessica. As much as he did to her, he wouldn't kill her."

"Why were you so sure of that?" Riley asked this, turning to his table for another sip of water.

Casey didn't answer until Riley was looking at him again. "Because she was Jessica. I was disposable. She was not."

"Why wasn't she disposable, Mr. Ziners?"

Casey's eyes moved to his sister's, who had surprisingly been looking at her brother his entire questioning thus far. Riley purposely stepped into the sibling's line of vision, causing the boy's eyes to go down. When he looked up, he seemed to have a bit more confidence, even though his answer would appear to negate that.

"I don't know, Sir."

_Liar_. This was the first time Riley was sure that they were lying to him. They may not know whom their dad was funding, but they did know that Jessica had something to do with it. And where there was one lie, there were others.

Riley's next question was slow. "Are you sure about that?"

"Something about plans for her," Casey suddenly blurted out. "But we could never figure out what that was. That's why Jessica was always getting in trouble for eavesdropping. She was trying to figure it out. That's why we were outside Dad's study that day!"

Riley glanced back at Jessica, to see a stunned look on her face. She seemed surprised at her brother's exclamation.

He would never once ponder that that surprise on her face denoted the thought _hey, that's a good lie_ rather than the one he thought – _I can't believe he just told him_.

Riley turned back to Casey, and examined the facts of the abuse with him, the torture, and his sister's protectiveness. He would then lead into Christmas Day – their father's mood, the reason for their going to the study, the knocked over statue, the words of their father that provoked his sister's attack, his sister's unconsciousness, then the Cruciatus and his own unconsciousness.

"I didn't really realize what was going to happen. I knew that it made Jessica mad and desperate, but I didn't know what it was. Jessica kept walking towards Dad even though he kept striking her. It was as if the strikes didn't faze her at all. She just kept walking. And then Dad did the Impediment Jinx. She stopped moving and Dad hit a Striking Curse at her side, knocking her over. And then he started to beat her badly before smacking one so hard across the side of her face that her head hit the ground, and she blacked out."

"What were you feeling at this moment?"

"I was surprised. Usually, it was just a few strikes for Jessica, but he was really laying it on her."

"Were you surprised when he knocked her unconscious?"

Casey shook his head. "No, he had knocked her unconscious before."

"And then after she was knocked unconscious, what happened?"

His face remained towards Riley, but his eyes flickered elsewhere. "Dad turned on me then. He mumbled something about Jess then told me to say hi to Mom as I left the world the same way she did. That was when I first realized that I shouldn't be there. That's when I realized that Dad was going to kill me. And Jesse couldn't protect me this time."

Casey pushed his glasses up his nose and then took to staring at his feet.

"I've never been so terrified in my entire life," he said quietly. "I always knew that I would die early, but when it came right down to it, I was scared. I was scared of how much it was going to hurt."

"How much did it hurt, Casey?" Riley asked in a similar quiet voice.

"At first, it was like usual," Casey replied. "You know, when you've had it done so many times, you can eventually have some thoughts while it's happening. You get use to the initial pain. But then he kept going and going and it started to hurt worse than ever before. And I kept thinking that this time, when I blacked out, I wouldn't be waking up." Casey gave a sharp swallow and though Riley couldn't see it, he knew then that the boy was starting to cry. He wiped at his eyes as if he was wiping something out of it, trying to act manly. But his voice betrayed him. "And as stupid as it was, I knew that I should be happy that I was going to see Mama again, but I kept praying to God that I wouldn't die because Jessica needed me. That's how it's always been. I need Jessica, and she needs me. It's how we survive. And when I died, she wouldn't have me. But then the pain from the Cruciatus was so bad, and then I knew I wanted to die."

"And then what happened?"  
"I blacked out."

Riley nodded and resumed his pacing, which he had stopped.

"What's the next thing you remember?"

"I woke up at Hogwarts, and this weird man was leaning over me, asking me my name and my birth date. I remember asking him if I could only tell him one middle name because I had so many of them."

Riley smiled. "And what middle name did you tell him?"

"Jackson."

Sighing and biting his lip before speaking again, Riley asked, "Mr. Ziners, would you mind removing your shirt so the Supreme Interrogators can see your wounds?"

Hesitating only a few seconds, Casey glanced at his sister and then the Interrogators before nodding. He stood up and set about unbuttoning his shirt. The whole courtroom – including a rapt Ignatius – stared at the boy's chest as each button came undone. When he took his shirt off, there were some gasps in the audience. The scars was strikingly visible against the little boy's pale white skin, the pale white skin a silent testimony to hours upon hours sitting silently in his room for no reason whatsoever except as a punishment for some supposed sin. The scars varied from long to short, broad to thin, but they all looked to be trying to make a path to his heart.

His upper arms showed a similar story, a story that made it just a quarter of an inch beyond his elbow.

Casey turned around to show jagged scars across his back, these much uglier than the front. They were thicker and bigger, as though the skin on the back pulled apart much easier than it did on the front.

Finally, Casey turned back around. "Can I put my shirt back on?"

Riley nodded and the boy did it with a grateful look.

"I've got scars on my legs as well," he said as he sat back down. "And, no, I won't drop my pants," he said with a grin then offered, "but I can pull the pant legs up some."

Riley nodded again. "If you would."

As he did so – this task seemingly tiring – he said, "It took me many months to recover from the incident on Christmas. Even now, I have to take it easy." He was able to pull up his pants up to his knee on his right leg. He held his leg out straight for the Supreme Interrogat to look at. The scars varied here as they had on his chest. After half a minute, Casey pulled the pants leg down and then went to work on the left leg. He was already out of breath and the left pants leg didn't help any. After a minute of trying and only getting it up a quarter of the way past his calf, he gave up. "Sorry, I think my leg is swelling again."

"That's alright," Riley told him. "Can you tell us some of the side effects to your injuries?"  
Casey nodded. "Okay. There's the swelling in my legs. I've got a potion I can take for that, but it's gross so it's sometimes hard to take it all. I also have these lapses where I completely blank out and lose all muscle control. Rohan said that he thinks they will lessen as I recover more, but he isn't sure." Casey bit his lip. "I sure hope they do. I can just see myself taking a test and falling onto the floor. That would be embarrassing, and the professors will probably think I'm cheating or something and just leaned over a little too far.

"What else is there?" Casey thought a second before touching at the gray hair just above his right ear. "There are these gray streaks. I think they're kind of cool, to tell you the truth."

Riley grinned. It was only a second later when he frowned. "Casey, did you know that your sister had planned out a way to murder your father?"

He hesitated but finally nodded. "Yes, I did. She told me."

"When was that?"

"When we woke up the morning after the day that Mama had died."

"Did she know then how she was going to do it?"

Casey shook his head. "No."

"When did she think of how she was going to do it?"  
Casey scratched at his ear before he answered. "When you guys came over to tell Father about the results of the investigation of Mom's death, he forced Jessica and me to lie on our beds. He didn't always do that, but this time, he did. He had some of his own house elves watch on us so that we didn't move. He did something. I don't know what it was, but it made it so we could hear perfectly well what you guys said. It was so, he said, that we could hear that he was all-powerful and you guys wouldn't ever be there to help us. It was after we were released from our rooms the next day that Jessica would tell me that she had a plan on how she was going to do it."

"What was the plan?" Riley asked, his voice steady and strong.

"The Slowing Jinx then the Killing Curse. At first, I wanted her to use the Cruciatus Curse, but then she explained to me that she couldn't do that, why she couldn't do it."

"Why couldn't she do it?"

Casey swallowed, looking at his sister for a minute before looking back at Riley. "Even with Dad, she didn't ever want to see someone die that way again."

Riley slowly nodded. After a few seconds of silence, he asked, looking at the Supreme Interrogat, "Did Jessica ever practice?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah, on me."

Riley looked back at Casey curiously. "On you?"

The boy laughed softly. "Yeah, on me. Obviously, she didn't do the Killing Curse. She practiced the Slowing Jinx on me. As far as I know, the first time she ever said the Killing Curse was in the study on Christmas Day."

Riley bit his lip for a second before he asked, "In your opinion, Mr. Ziners, who knows your sister the best?"

"Me," he answered without hesitation.

"And in your humble opinion, Mr. Ziners, do you think in your sister's heart of hearts, that she had wanted her father dead?" Riley was taking a bit of a chance asking this question. He knew that Casey would answer that he was the one that knew his sister best. But Riley was counting on Casey's adult-like personality, a personality that came through loud and clear in his answers, would lend some credence to his opinion, making up for the lack of age that would surely work against him with the Supreme Interrogators.

Casey paused a very long time as he thought of how to word his answer. This made Riley smile. There was going to be no pretentious bullshit here. Casey was not going to give a childish answer – but nor would he gave an adult one, one showered and decorated with a pretend objectiveness. Casey was giving this question the thought that it was due.

"That is a hard question to answer," he replied finally, "because there are two answers to it. Yes and no. I believe that Jessica did want Father dead. But I don't think it was so much a revenge for Mother as you might think. There was that – you can't get away from it – but there was also the fact that she just wanted him to stop. To stop everything. But then there is the no. I don't think Jesse wanted to kill him. Dad is the murderer. Jessica always tells me that I look the most like him, but that she really is the most like him. And when she killed Dad, she thought that that was the final step to becoming exactly like him. She didn't want to be the one to take that step. But she was the only one that was there to take that step."

A ghost of a smile floated across Riley's face, but it never amounted to more than that. He was very proud of the boy right now. That very well could be his closing statement. But Riley had something more planned for the statement.

"Thank you, Mr. Ziners," Riley said and excused him from the stand.

As Jessica Ziners traded places with her brother, Riley kept looking at the witness chair, his hands behind his back, his mind clear. When he noticed that Jessica was just about to turn so she could sit, Riley walked over to his table. He set down his notes for Casey and looked at his notes for Jessica. However, rather than picking them up, he merely turned them so he could read it from this side of the table.

Riley turned to Jessica, starting back into his pacing.

"Please state your name and your occupation."

"I'm assuming this is the point that I say I'm Jessica Ziners, and I'm a student at Hogwarts."

Riley nodded. "Very good, Miss Ziners."

"Thank you," she said with a nod, her chin jutting up as she looked at Riley.

"You heard what your brother said. Is all of it true?"

"Yes, it is. Except that I should have stayed out of it. I wasn't ever planning to stay still and let Father murder Casey."

Riley only nodded, surprised that he himself didn't have to lead her into it. Leave it to Jessica to jump right into the heart of the matter.

"You weren't planning to stay still and let Father murder your brother. That sounds like you might have had experience there. Had you 'stayed still' before?"

The jaw started working, but she never answered.

"Please answer the question, Miss Ziners," Andorra said.

Jessica glanced at Andorra before looking at her hands. "Yes, I had."

"What happened as a result?"

There was a long pause, but everyone with authority let her have that.

"Someone died."

"Who died?" Riley pressed.

"Mom died."  
"Your mother died in an accident, Miss Ziners—"

Jessica shook her head. "She didn't. Do I have to go through this again?" Her question was directed to Tatianna. "Riley took notes when he interviewed me. Can't you just read about it?"

"Miss Ziners," Melovic said, "we have to hear you tell it."

Jessica looked down.

"You said your mother didn't die in an accident. Can you please elaborate on that?" Riley prompted

"What does 'elaborate' mean?"

"Can you please describe what you mean by that?" Riley repeated.

Jessica swallowed the lump in her throat, her eyes straying to her uncle. Riley couldn't help it. It was a natural reaction. It was not a reaction born out of his trial experience, for that was severely lacking. It was a reaction born out of questioning witnesses. Whenever they looked for some comfort – some help – from someone, he was to place himself between the suspect and that source of comfort. That suspect was only suppose to be answering him alone of their volition, not the urging of some third party. But, at this moment, this present moment, when Jessica turned to her uncle, Riley stepped in between them, blocking her line of vision.

And he couldn't help but think he just violated a rule with Jessica when she gave him a steely look.

But Riley did not move. He needed her to tell him the story again, but, this time, in more detail. He needed to hear every gory detail, and he didn't think he would unless Jessica could not see her uncle.

And Riley would receive what he desired most.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

"But, Sir, do you not want to see it? I know you want her on our side, but she's now unpredictable. Do you not want to see her go down?"

Tom Riddle turned to his servant. He was a most loyal one. He would have chosen no other because of the task he had laid down for this family, from the father down to the last son. They also knew of his deepest secret – his problems with Miss Jessica Ziners.

"She will not go down today. And trust me, when she goes down, I will be there, for I shall deliver the fatal blow. But today is not that day. I am sure she will survive."

"Pardon me, Master, for I do not doubt your powers and your knowledge…"

"But what?" Tom growled at the man bowing at his feet.

For a moment in time, he looked up at his master. "She would not serve you well, Master."

"When the time comes, she will serve me excellently. And I will see to it the time comes, but today is just a test for her. She will become a more formidable opponent as a result of this trial, but she will also become a more formidable ally when the time comes. If the Supreme Interrogat pardons her today, they will be less likely in the future to see any evil deeds she may commit. I vow that that lack of foresight will hurt them rather soon."

"And if she manages by some great rarity to elude your power? Not that I think she will."

Tom smacked the man across his face. Some blood started to drip from the man's nose. Tom brought his finger down to pick up the blood with his finger. He looked at the blood in fascination, as he answered, "Never fear for that, My Servant. I always have a plan."

The servant did not wipe at his own blood, knowing his master enjoyed the sight, for it reminded him of his power. "Do you not want to be there, Sir, just to see it for yourself?" he asked, referring back to the trial.  
Tom shook his head. "No, I have some eyes and ears there for me."

"Ignatius Malfoy? I do not believe him worthy of such a task, but if you think he is worthy, then I am blind."

Tom laughed and shook his head, smiling at the man at his feet. "No, no. Ignatius is not worthy, but I let him think he is. He still has many things to give me. No, no. I have someone much more worthy of the task. The best part, My Dear Servant, is that no one, including Miss Jessica Ziners, has a clue that my eyes and ears are in there, that someone much more worthy than Ignatius Malfoy, is watching over the Ziners children, ready to strike shall the children feel the need to…say things they should not."

Tom laughed as he looked back at the blood on his fingers.

"No, no, Miss Ziners will never be sure if she's escaped from me because she never will escape for me. She will look me in the face and be blinded to that fact. She will never think that among those most trusted beings surrounding her uncle is one waiting for my order to attack."

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

Her voice was steady, her eyes elsewhere, as she talked about the living conditions in the home. The fear, the beatings, the general idea not to disobey 'Father'. She talked about how she and Casey were generally safe during that time, as though the smacks they received were a matter of fact.

While she spoke over the communication between her mother and her, she never elaborated on it, never offering anything about the "Clearing Paper", and Riley never asked her about it. Last night, Riley had also asked the Supreme Interrogat not to ask her about it, in private explaining to Andorra and Melovic the invention that Maddie had desired to keep secret. As an Unspeakable herself, Melovic could appreciate that desire.

She spoke quietly about her first attempt to reach her uncle. She talked about the dead house elf sadly and the first attempt on her brother's life with anger. She spoke of waiting patiently for six months, and then she spoke of how 'Father' thwarted her plans once and for all.

And then she spoke about walking into the lab.

"She was tied to one of her tables. Casey was already down there."

"He never once tried to untie your mother while he was down there alone?" Vallen asked, drawing Jessica's attention away from Riley for the first time.

Instead of answering, Jessica looked down at her knees. Finally, though, she looked up again and looked Vallen in the eyes. "He was six, Ma'am. And if Father had caught him in middle of untying, he would have died. Mama would have known this and told him not to do it."

"Miss Ziners," Melovic said by way of catching her attention. When she had it, she didn't let it go as she asked, "Was anyone else in the lab when you first entered, other than your mother and your brother?"

There was a pause and then, "No, Ma'am, there was not."

"Are you sure?" Melovic pressed.

No pause, no hesitation whatsoever. "I'm sure, Ma'am."

Melovic seemed done, so Jessica turned back to Riley. Riley was caught up in looking at her, trying to find a sign she was lying, so caught up, it took him a minute to realize she was waiting for him to speak.

"Please continue," Riley said.

Jessica closed her eyes for a second and swallowed before she opened her eyes again, showing a surprising sign of vulnerability. It was gone in less than a second.

"Father told me to sit next to my brother. I did. Casey wanted to know what was going on, but I didn't tell him. Mama kept looking at me, telling me to be strong, that it wasn't my fault. When she didn't shut up when Father told her to, he smacked her. When she still didn't shut up…I kept telling her to be quiet and he was going to let her go…Mama just shook her head. She told me she loved me and told me to be strong, to protect myself, and to protect Casey. Father then silenced her. But Mama didn't stop looking at me and Casey. She kept smiling and trying to talk, but she had no voice. She started to cry. I kept trying to get up but every time I did, Father pointed his wand at Casey. Mama looked like she wanted to yell at Father, but nothing was ever coming out. That's when I noticed that Father was talking to me." Jessica's eyes were now not just staring into space, but at her lap, her hands making angry, powerless gestures until she started into what 'Father' had said to her. She sat on her hands then, as if reminded that she shouldn't speak with her hands.

"I caught him mid-speech. 'Look what happens when you want to open your big mouth, Jesse. This is what happens. You murder Mommy. You couldn't just stay out of it. It's your place to be with me, Jessica. Not with your Mommy or your Uncle Danny. Me. Me. It's all about me.' Me, me, me," she growled. "That's all he ever saw. Me and money. They sound a lot alike, I always thought. Then it was 'wham'!" Jessica slapped the arm of the witness chair, making everyone – including Riley – jump. She gripped the arms of the chair with each of her hands then, the grip so tight her knuckles turned white. Her next word was whispered. "Crucio." She shook her head. "Mom shook. I think I screamed. Casey grabbed his knees and started to hum as he rocked. He use to do that…during other times, just to block out the sound. It didn't work this time. This time, when Mama was screaming in pain, she was right there and we couldn't block it out.

"When Father hurt Casey before, I didn't see it happen. It was right there, but I was so intent on trying to not look at it, I didn't watch it happen. I didn't watch the Cruciatus shrink his skin until it broke. But that time in the lab, it was right in front of me. I couldn't stop Father because he would just look at Casey, and I knew he would kill him as well. All I could do was watch Mama's skin shrink." Jessica held her hands up and watched her own hands in fascination as they made gestures to what she spoke. "It tightens against the bone," she interlaced her fingers and squeezed them together, pulling them apart at the same time. When she noticed that the inside of her fingers had turned white, she flipped them over so Riley could see the whiteness. Looking him in the eyes, she said, her voice painfully matter-of-fact, "Then suddenly, it snaps apart," she yanked the hands away from each other. "Blood starts gushing to the surface and falls out, dropping on the table. That's got to hurt, doesn't it, Riley?" When he didn't answer, she shook her hand, glancing down. "That's right. You don't answer the questions. You ask them." She sighed before continuing.

"Father paused from time to time. He turned to Casey and said the Killing Curse. He missed Casey on purpose. He did it a few more times on Case, only stopping when I stood in front of Casey. He would start the Cruciatus Curse on Mama, and then would stop it. Every time the Curse would hit her and her body would jump. I remember Mama's head falling towards us. She was still alive. Blood was dripping out of her mouth." Jessica stopped, biting her lips, her eyes closing, causing tears to come from her eyes. "She wanted to die then I think. She had to be hurting a lot. And Father just kept making her body jump."

Jessica took a shaky breath, her eyes remaining cast downwards. "I remember Father pressing his face close to Mama's, moving her face so she was looking at him. He whispered, 'I won.' I don't know what that meant, but he took the Silencing Charm off. She gave this little noise, and Father put his wand to her throat and finished her off with the Cruciatus Curse." Jessica paused a long time, her eyes off to the front of the Supreme Interragot's bench. Finally, she managed to continue. Her voice was dull.

"Father told me to stand up and take off my robes. When I had done that, he told me to take off my t-shirt. He pointed his wand at Casey, so I did that. He unbuttoned the front of Mama's dress. He then asked me for my t-shirt. He rubbed it over Mama's body before handing it back to me. As he buttoned Mama's dress again, he told me to put the t-shirt back on. I didn't want to, but he told me I really didn't want to be responsible for two deaths today. I put it on like he asked. I put back on my robes. Father prepared the room. He untied Mama's hands and ankles." Jessica paused a moment before saying, "He had a list of ingredients for the cauldron. He mixed something. When it was ready, he brought us out of the room. It was a couple of minutes later. We hadn't heard it, but Father knew it had exploded. He brought us back into the lab and told us to sit in front of Mama's body. The table had broken in half, but Mama was still on it. There was potion over everything. He told us to sit down. We did. He then said something, I don't know what, and then he left the room, locking the door."

When she stopped, Riley asked, "How long were you in there?"

Without moving her head, she looked up at him. The tears were still in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I don't know. It seemed forever."

"When would you take your blood-soaked t-shirt off for the first time?"

"Three days later."

Riley walked over to his table, knowing he had Jessica's full attention now. He reached inside the bag that had sat closest to him as he had waited for the trial to begin. His hand rested on the bag's contents a moment. Finally, though, he took a deep breath and pulled the contents out. He turned and held up a blood-soaked t-shirt to Jessica.

"Is this the t-shirt?"

Jessica fairly jumped. "Where did you get it?"

"That doesn't matter," he said, not about to give Casey Ziners up to his own sister, "Is this the t-shirt that your father soaked in your mother's blood?"

When Riley started towards her with the t-shirt, she started crawling up the back of her chair. He stopped, and she calmed down.

"Yes, it's the shirt," she said tensely, watching the shirt as though she thought it was going to attack her at any second.

"Miss Ziners, you have to examine the item with your own hands in order to be sure," Melovic instructed.

Jessica never once took her eyes off the shirt as she shook her head. "No, I don't. See that dark curve," she pointed towards the collar and followed it down to the edge of the stitching of the right sleeve. "That's the shirt."

"You appear to have spent quite some time with the shirt," Vallen said quietly.

Jessica nodded, her eyes still glued to it. "Whenever I got severely out of line, Father use to make me lie in my room with it lying over my face. Once when both Casey and I _really_ got out of line, he made me wear it around the house. He kept pointing out that idiotic curve of dark red to my brother."

"How often did you have to lie with it over your face?" Andorra asked.

"Right away after her death, it was once a day. It then started to get fewer and fewer."

"When was the last time you wore it?"

"November of 1972."

"But you were at school then," Andorra protested.

"Father told me if I didn't wear it, he would know. He would then kill Casey. It was just one night." Riley could tell none of the Supreme Interrogators bought her rationalization.

Riley set the shirt on the table without folding it. "Miss Ziners, when did you decide to murder your father?"

"We had just lain down for the night, the night after Mommy died. We were at Uncle Danny's, lying on his bed. Casey was lying, curled in a ball. He didn't even take off his glasses. He just laid there, looking at me. I was sitting up, on the other side of the bed. Uncle Danny was standing in the doorway, asking if there was anything else we needed. It was the moment I had tried for. It was the moment that Mama had died for. Trying to think fast, I opened my mouth to…to say it…but Father walked in then. He pushed past Uncle Danny and sat next to me on the bed, grabbing me in a hug. He kept saying, 'It's going to be alright, baby. It's going to be alright.' Father was hugging me so tight I thought he was going to break me. When I tried to turn to Uncle Danny again, Father put his mouth right on my ear and whispered, 'Your brother needs your help more than anything now. You need to calm down for him, for his own life.' And then he started to rub his hands up and down my back, dragging the blood across my back.

"I remember being terrified. I cried for my mommy. Father kept patting me and saying 'Good girl. Cry. Make him believe you have a heart.' I wanted to kill him then. I wanted him to die." Her voice kept changing so much, light, matter-of-fact, sad, and deadly, that it held her audience captive. Riley knew that she didn't notice any of it, her eyes seemingly wild, moving about the room randomly. Most of the time, she probably didn't even realize she was in a courtroom.

"I couldn't tell Uncle Danny. That's when I realized that was impossible. I couldn't leave Casey's life in Father's hands. There was only one way to stop Father. It was to kill him."

"Was that when you decided how you were going to kill him?"

Jessica shook her head. "No. I decided how I was going to do it when they came to tell Father that they determined that Mama's death was an accident. I think I had hoped you guys would discover that it wasn't an accident. But you didn't. I was lying up in my room, with the shirt over my face. My face was getting sweaty. It was really making the shirt stink.

"It was like Casey had said. Father made sure I could hear what you guys were saying downstairs. I don't know the spell he used, but I could hear you like you were in the room. That made it hurt worse because I wanted so badly to tell you guys. But whoever said whatever they said, and then I was alone again, under the red. I knew when I killed Father I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to know it was me. But I also wanted to know that there was a possibility he could defend himself. Which was stupid. It would be impossible to defend yourself with the Slowing Jinx." Jessica shook her head angrily. Suddenly, she lifted her head and looked Riley in the eyes. "But I decided that I couldn't do it with the Cruciatus Curse. That was wrong."

"But that's how he murdered your mother."

"Doesn't make it right. Either way, I didn't want to see it again. The skin. It makes me sick to my stomach." She shook her head at her lap.

Riley glanced down before starting into Jessica's side of Christmas Day. They didn't repeat what Casey had already said but continued from what Casey had stopped – when Jessica regained consciousness. She talked about walking over to the desk to grab her wand and then walking back to the spot they had found her. Riley asked her why she did all that walking and not just go from the desk. She shrugged her shoulders before saying, "better angle, I guess". They moved on to the Slowing Jinx then to raising her wand, her fear of saying the words – then to what she saw – her brother and her mother. The lowering of the wand and the words came last.

And then to the question no one had asked her.

"Miss Ziners, after you were brought to Hogwarts, do you remember what happened?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I tried to kill myself."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I became like Father. I murdered for my own benefit. And because as much as Father's actions killed Mama and almost Casey, so did mine. Neither time was I able to mind my own business. Both resulted as they did. I needed to stop that."

"Do you wish that you had succeeded at killing yourself?"

Jessica paused a moment in thought, biting her lip, before she nodded. "Yes, I still think that is what I wish. But Casey keeps reminding me that I saved his life. He also reminds me that Mama died saving our lives, and that I'm worth a try at life. He also tells me that I murdered for my benefit and that benefit was to keep my brother, no more, no less, and that Dad never would have murdered for the good of another's life for less than righteous reasons. I think that he means that Dad would never have murdered to save someone else's life for the benefit of keeping alive someone who annoys the heck out of him."

Riley smiled at her joke and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Ziners. You are excused."

"One moment," Melovic said. Jessica, who had been just about to get out of the chair, stopped and sat back again. "I have one question for Miss Ziners." Melovic gave a moment's pause, giving Jessica a hard, stern look before she spoke again. "Have you ever met anyone that went by the name Voldemort?"

Jessica was silent for a moment, holding eye contact with Melovic, before she answered quietly. "No, I never have, Ma'am."

Melovic nodded, and the Auror took Jessica back to her seat.

"Unless you have another witness, Mr. Haderson, I would like to call a break before your closing statement," Melovic said.

Riley nodded his agreement. "I was just about to ask the same thing, Madam Secretary."

"Then, I will call a twenty minute recess. I would recommend everyone go out and get some fresh air. And please, do not bug Mr. Haderson in the meantime."

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"Is he okay?"

"We should bring him a washcloth. He's got sweat on his glasses."

"I would really like that. And please make it cold."

"Riley!" came a whisper from Andre'a. "We're not suppose to talk to you."

"You're not suppose to bug me, but a cold washcloth and a cold glass of water – with ice cubes – would most certainly not be construed as bugging me."

"Right up, Sir," Richie Thender said, jogging back into the Courthouse.

Riley was sitting on the bench right outside the main doors. He was leaning his head back on the wall of the building, looking up into the ceiling of the porch. It was a nice cool spot, but it hardly made a dent on his condition, his team could tell.

Andre'a sat on one side of him and Mark on the other. The Bensons and Chong stood in front of them.

"I can't believe what those kids went through. Right under our nose and all," Andre'a said, learning forward onto her knees.

Richie returned with a cold, wet paper towel and a glass of water with ice cubes. He gave both items to Riley, who promptly took off his glasses, laid them on his lap, laid the paper towel across his forehead, and pressed the glass of water first against one cheek then the other one, before taking a long sip, drinking most of the water.

Andre'a grabbed his glasses and started cleaning them with the edge of her robes.

"They never appeared to be abused kids," Feng said. "With the girl being so mouthy." The group did not reprimand her comment, as Feng didn't know the kids as well as the others did. "But maybe she was trying to prove to herself and to her father that she was too strong to be dominated by anyone but herself."

"You're doing good in there, Riley," Kevin said. "Know what you're going to say in your closing?"  
Riley nodded. "Word for word."

"Do you think the Supreme Interrogators are going to side in Jessica and Casey's favor?" Josh Benson asked Riley.

Riley paused a second before responding. "I'm not sure. Andorra promised me a very critical eye."

"Which could go either way," Mark replied. Everyone else nodded, knowing their boss well.

"Melovic is completely unreadable. She would have been one hell of an Auror," Riley murmured into the edge of his glass as he pressed it against his face again. "I think the rest might go Jessica and Casey's way – all except Vallen and Zeckaroy."

"It looks like Vallen hates you," Feng commented.

"You have no idea," Mark replied. "Riley showed her son up in everything he did in school. She wanted Riley to rot in Hell."

"What are yeah sayin', Mark?" Drea asked with a grin. "She still wants him to burn in Hell. So does Julian Hammonds," Drea said in an imitation of a very whiny voice. To the others she explained, "Julian – the Court Scribe – was the major bookworm of Riley and Mark's Year. Julian could equal Riley in book smarts. But, to Julian's dismay, being an Auror takes street smarts and a certain prowess that Julian sorely lacked. He turned green whenever he came within spitting distance of Riley."

"As much as I'm not enjoying this trip down memory lane…" Riley said into the other side of the edge of his glass.

"You said you were worried about Zeckaroy," Mark commented.

Riley nodded. "Yeah, he looked very skeptical during most of the witnesses."

"Well, if it helps," Kevin said, "he didn't look at anything during Jessica's testimony. Just as unreadable as Melovic. That might be a point in your favor."

"Only God knows," Riley murmured.

"Where are Jessica and Casey anyhow?" Drea asked, surveying the people roaming the lawn outside the Courthouse.

"Inside still," Riley murmured. "George and Tim," he continued, referring to Jessica's and Casey's Auror-guards, "offered them a chance to go outside – and continue to offer it – but neither are taking it. They keep sitting in the chairs, staring in front of them. When I came out though, Jessica was looking her chair over, asking George and Tim if they knew anyone who had sat in her chair before her, and if they had ever seen the chains in use."

The group fell silent for a number of minutes. Richie started to break the silence but halted when Jessica walked out, Tim following with a hand on her shoulder. She stopped by the bench.

"Riley, are they going to give us our sentence today, or are we going to have to wait?"

Riley looked at her, the glass still pressed to the right side of his face, his glasses still off. "They're going to try getting your sentence to you today, but there's no guarantee."

She nodded and was thoughtful for a second before asking, "If I'm convicted, will they convict Casey too?"

Riley hesitated a second before replying, "I don't know. It all depends on how they see fit."

She bit her lip before nodding. "Okay, thanks," she said before turning back into the Courthouse.

Every team member but Riley exchanged a look before Richie asked quietly, "Are you sure about what you're saying in there, Ri?"

Everyone but Riley glared at him, but Richie didn't notice, his eyes on his commander.

Riley merely nodded. "At first, I wasn't. Jessica's attitude more than matched that of her father's. I knew something might have been going on, not as bad as it was, but I wondered about something. And I had the thought – she could have tried to stop him or run for help. And then I discovered that she did indeed premeditate the murder. She took her actions too far, I thought.

"But then I wondered about Madeline. And I heard about that shirt and saw it with my own eyes." He sighed as he took one last gulp of his glass, drinking the ice that had melted. He set the glass on the bench between Andre'a and himself, grabbed his glasses from her and slipped them on. His eyes stared into the distance, at the house on the hill. "Last night, I lay in my own bed with that shirt on, trying to see what she would have seen. That alone is enough to drive someone insane, smelling your own mother's blood knowing that you caused it. But Jessica had the constant threat on her brother. For five years, she walked around knowing that with every step she took, she drove Casey closer to death. I don't think any of us would have done different on Christmas Day than Jessica did. We would probably have gone further."

Riley grunted as he stood up. He walked into the Courthouse without another word to his companions. It would be but two minutes when everyone would be called in for Riley's closing statement.

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"The Ziners home was a war zone. When Jessica and Casey were born, Jeffery Ziners turned it into an all-out war. Madeline Ziners was caught on enemy territory, and she was caught carrying the very weapons that could bring her to her knees." Riley knew that every eye in that courtroom was on him– including Jessica's and Casey's – but he ignored them, his eyes taking time with only each member of the Supreme Interrogat.

"I don't think Jeffery Ziners ever expected one of those weapons he wielded so effectively against his wife to turn on him, but what Jeffery Ziners thought is not up for us to determine. One of his weapons did indeed turn against him, and it was his own seven-year-old daughter. And she didn't mean for 'Father' to find out about her wavering allegiances. Unfortunately, Jeffery did indeed find out, and he wasn't willing to allow this treason.

"Jeffery Ziners was so unwilling to allow this treason that he turned his wand on to a six-year-old boy and screamed at him a curse that would kill grown men! But yet, his daughter would try again. But, again, Father would find out. And to drive the point home that 'Father' was to be obeyed, he would tie the mother of his children to a table in her own lab and torture her death, making his own children watch! But yet, this was not enough for Jeffery Ziners. It wasn't enough for Jeffery to murder his wife in the most vicious of manners! It wasn't enough for him to make his children watch! It wasn't enough to drive the point into his daughter's skull that she was responsible for her mother's death! No! Jeffery had to soak his daughter's shirt in her mother's blood as a way to make her remember vividly. Jeffery not only had to drive the point home but all the way to the core of his daughter's heart. He made her live and breathe and wallow in her mother's blood at any and every moment he chose to.

"Your honors, here was a seven-year-old girl that was forced to wear her mother's blood the night of her mother's death with salvation sleeping on the coach. She was that close to her only possible saving grace – her Uncle Danny – but yet, while wallowing in unbelievable grief, she was reminded by the cause of that grief that she had more to lose. She was a seven-year-old given the responsibility of her six-year-old brother. Every move she made could have killed her brother, the rules of the game only being known to Jeffery and subscribing to no logic whatsoever. It was a toss of the dice what could kill Casey Ziners, and all that Jessica knew was that she would cause it. She was reminded constantly that it was her actions that killed her mother. She had no reason to doubt her father's threats," Riley grabbed the t-shirt from the table and held it up. "She had this bloody t-shirt to remind her of his willingness to act on those threats, to remind her of her responsibility for the lives of those around her!

"Try to imagine what life under this shirt is like. Madeline's seven-year-old daughter spent a lifetime under this shirt, seeing red, feeling the roughness of old blood, smelling the stale substance of her mother's life force. After a couple of hours, you're really starting to sweat, the sweat runs into your eye, probably mixing with tears you refuse to shed again." Riley sighed, looking at the shirt himself for a long moment of silence before he spoke quietly, "And while the blood was still wet, Miss Ziners lived under this shirt, wore it, and slept in it. As she wallowed under this bloody t-shirt, she had time to think about what she did. Jeffery Ziners' intention must have been to create a submissive daughter, but instead, he designed his murder.

"As an Auror, you are taught that everyone has their limit. If you push, everyone will have their breaking point. What they do when they break is _never_ predictable, but you can count on that they will do something. And just because the person may be twelve-years-old does not mean that they won't react like an adult might."

Riley put the shirt down and started a small pace in front of the Supreme Interragot's bench. He used one turn to move the right side of his face away from the judges and, with the sleeve of his robes, wiped off some spit from the corner of his mouth.

"After years of torture – both mental and physical – it cannot come as a surprise that Miss Ziners thought about killing her father. She had resources that other abused children did not usual have. She knew what her father was doing was wrong, and she knew that other parents did not do as he did. She knew that her uncle could offer help, if she could but get to him. But, that lesson that her father taught her in her mother's lab and later on her uncle's bed, was that Jessica could not get salvation from outside the house. She could only count on the one person Jeffery Ziners was the most hesitant to punish to death – herself!

"And so she prepared for a time that might or might not come. She prepared to murder her father. And if that preparation was the only thing between her mother's death and her father's murder, that would be the beginning and ending of the story, but it is not the only thing between her mother's death and her father's murder.

"Like every other magically-abled person, Jessica Ziners got a wand just before she started school. She was 11-years old when she started school, when she received her wand. Yet, Christmas Break came and went during her first year at Hogwarts. She had come home. She had practiced how to murder her father. Nothing happened except more abuse. She went back to school, and Jeffery Ziners resumed his life. She went home during the summer. Again, she practiced how to murder her father. Her brother was forced to torture her with the Cruciatus Curse. Other abuse happened. The summer came and went. Jeffery Ziners lived through it. And then Christmas Break happened. Jessica Ziners was home before Christmas, yet Jeffery Ziners lived to Christmas Day. It was only when Casey Ziners was in danger of dying that Jessica Ziners acted on her plan! After years of torture, it was only when her brother was going to die that she acted!

"This demonstrates self-control. Miss Ziners did not murder when her father's back was turned. She did not murder him in his sleep. She would tell you that it demonstrated her being a chicken, and in the view of the world she grew up in, she was a chicken. But in our world, the world we should accept Miss Ziners into after this trial, she did not murder her father the second she was capable because she had a moral conflict and a hesitation to murder that denotes goodness. She waited until murder was necessary."

Riley was silent a moment as he paced. The only sound in the room was his hiking boots making their way back and forth on the floor of the courtroom. When he spoke again, he resumed his looks up and down the faces of the Supreme Interrogat bench. "Some may argue that Jessica could have tried to subdue her father. She's received good grades in school. She knows some spells to do that. Even if she didn't, she could try to physically subdue him at least. We have evidence in the form of Rohan Figg's and Mark Halmer's testimonies, as well as the accountants of both children, that say Jessica did indeed try to physically stop him. She was knocked unconscious and woke up to see her brother, nearly dead. She could have used floo to get to the Department and find help, some may then argue. But Jessica herself knew that would take too long. She had seen the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. She knew what death looked like. She knew that death by Cruciatus Curse was bloody as hell. And even if she didn't," Riley grabbed at first Casey's bloody shirt and then his bloody trousers and held them up from the Supreme Interrogat to get a very good look at, "look at what she saw." He grabbed the towels and held up each one individually. "Four towels to clean her brother. That's how much blood Jessica saw." Riley set the towels down, and, still facing the table, his eyes glanced at Daniel. Daniel was staring at him, his face unreadable. Riley looked back at the Supreme Interrogators.

"It's no wonder that at that exact moment, Jessica Ziners' wand could no longer remain silent. It was that day in the lab all over again, but, this time, Jessica could do something about it. That day, in the study, Jessica Ziners defended her brother's life, and she saved it. That is not the action of a cold-blooded murderer."

Riley walked to the seat he had vacated so long ago. "Thank you, your honors," he said and sat.

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_Even without Azkaban, we'll return to a prison._

_Without Azkaban, we'll have time with Uncle Danny. It'll still be a prison from time to time, but we'll have time with Uncle Danny._

_Do you think we'll live long enough to see the end of Voldemort?_

His sister didn't answer him. After a moment, he realized she was staring at Melovic, which seemed to unnerve Melovic after a few minutes. Jessica glanced at Casey before looking at the floor.

_The Bloody Baron was right when he compared our fight with Voldemort to a game of chess. Except there was one thing he left out. We have an audience at the game, just waiting to knock down our carefully laid pieces._

_There's one other problem with his analogy as well_, Casey said. When Jessica didn't say anything, Casey supplied his answer to his own comment.

_You suck at chess._

To Be Continued…


	14. A Life In Between

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex at charter dot net)

**Chapter 14: A Life In Between**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Elizabeth Murphy (mc):** She's new this chapter, so you'll find out who she is when you read. After this chapter, I will write a better description for her.

Timeline: Same night of the trial, in the trial room…

"Then I see you standing there

Wanting more from me

And all I can do is try

Then I see you standing there

I'm all I'll ever be

But all I can do is try."

"Try", sung by Nelly Furtado

Without further ado, here is the chapter…

It was 11 p.m. If the Interrogat did not reach a decision by midnight, they were going to resume tomorrow.

It was weird knowing that they had been in these seats since 8 a.m. this morning. Except for a lunch break and a supper break, they hadn't moved far from the chairs that they currently sat in.

_Do you think that Riley knew we were lying a lot of the time?_ Casey asked her suddenly.

_We didn't lie most of the time. We merely omitted some important facts and only lied when it was completely, utterly necessary, which was only a handful of times,_ Jessica replied, her mind's voice seemingly tired.

Casey knew that didn't justify what they did, but he let her have it. He still felt guilty for telling Riley where the bloody shirt of Jessica's was. He was glad that Riley had kept their confidence, but he still felt guilty for it. So he let Jessica win this argument.

_Do you think Melovic knows that Tom was in the lab the night Mama died?_

_It's possible that she suspects someone was, but I think that's the last we have heard of it._

Casey snorted, causing Jessica to look at him. _That isn't the last we've heard of that or of Melovic's suspicion,_ he explained.

Jessica sighed.

Thirty minutes later, Riley walked back into the courtroom and sat down at his table. Other than George and Tim, their Auror guards, they were the only ones in the room. Jessica looked at him. He looked tired but determined. She still couldn't believe that he had finally figured out that Mama had been murdered. All these years, and he finally figured it out. And right now, it might be the only thing to keep her out of Azkaban. But back then…back then, it would have been so much more. Back then, before Riddle was thoroughly Voldemort, before his claws were into someone in the Department, it could have been so much more.

Jessica shook her head. That was untrue. Even then, Father and Riddle had their friends. Casey would never have been safe.

Riley turned to her. He didn't smile like he would have another day. But this was a different day. Jessica was a different person to him. And she knew that he still didn't have any idea of who she really was, how deep her treason really extended. And she wondered that if he had any idea, if he would really be defending her like this.

Jessica looked up as the Supreme Interrogat re-entered the room. No one looked at her, causing her heart to lurch a little bit. Jessica sighed again.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Someone once said to me that justifiable homicide is the most subjective law we have on the books, and he is right. Unfortunately though, it is a needed law, necessary to protect those who were protecting themselves, or, in some cases, protecting those whom, for some reason, were unable to protect themselves. In each case, we have to examine the facts in evidence, investigate what was in the mind of the person doing the killing. We also have to decide whether murder was even necessary. There is no doubt what Jeffery Ziners had been doing to his children was despicable, but his actions are not what we are to directly judge here. We must judge the actions of his daughter, Jessica Ziners, and whether or not they were necessary or too extreme." Melovic paused and looked at her scribbled notes a minute before continuing.

"This case probably would have had a very different outcome if Miss Ziners were older, but we must judge her not in spite of her age but because of it. But it is only one among many factors we must base our judgment on.

"Miss Ziners knowingly had access to powerful Aurors, many of whom she could have told her tale to. And without the knowledge of Madeline Ziners' demise, we very well might have based our judgment on that. But we aren't ignorant of what happened to Mrs. Ziners.

"Nor are we ignorant of what occurred afterwards. Mr. Ziners followed the action of murdering the mother of his children by moving the position of a seven-year old from daughter to mother, making her responsible for the life of her brother, an already unrealistic expectation, and he made it more unreal by expecting her to follow rules only Jeffery Ziners himself knew and rules that only made sense to him. Mr. Ziners did not, however, stop here but drove it further by forcing this seven-year old to wear a blood-soaked t-shirt.

"And yet, Jessica Ziners did not have the right to punish her father for his inexcusable actions. All we can do is factor them in to her thinking that day.

"The question remains – did Miss Ziners perceive that her brother's life was in danger or was 'Father' delivering another brutal – but livable – punishment? Was revenge on her mind or being a savior? Was revenge coloring her vision?

"After some debate, we unanimously came to the conclusion that Casey Ziners was right. A sense of revenge was there, but that was not coloring her vision. Had Jessica Ziners not reacted in the fashion that she did that day Casey Ziners would be dead. Going for help would have been a time-consuming exercise, precious time that her brother could ill-afford to give her. Attempting to stop her father had not only failed, but Miss Ziners knew it to probably be a pointless exercise. Jessica Ziners had every reason to believe that there was only one way to stop 'Father' from taking her brother's life, and though our justice system would have dealt a different blow, Jessica did not have that weapon in her arsenal and our justice system was not present in that study.

"Our justice system is here to protect our citizens and because the system sometimes fails, we have to make laws to allow our citizens to protect themselves. This was one of those cases." Melovic looked at Jessica and Casey, both of whom were returning her look. "We have all decided that both of you were trying to act in the interest of your own lives to the best of your ability, and, you, Miss Ziners, made the best judgment you could at the time to save the life of your brother." She turned to Daniel. "Other than a recommendation that both children receive counseling," she turned back to Jessica and Casey, "all charges are dismissed. You are free to go."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Why the sad face? They did win."

"No, they didn't. They just merely survived."

Andre'a gave Riley a startled look. Andorra and Andre'a were in the Dark Operators office. Riley had just entered.

"You still don't get it," Riley said, exasperated. Andorra was sure that he didn't even notice who he was talking to. "These kids weren't trying to win anything. They snapped. Jessica snapped. She wasn't playing a game with her father, and she didn't win a game with her father. She just snapped. She is 12-years old, and she already knows what it's like to snap. That isn't conducive for a normal life. Ever." The word was final, solid, and closed with the thud of Riley's bag as he dropped it on his desk.

"They've never had a normal life, abusive father or not. They are privy to more law enforcement secrets than over half the law enforcement department," Andorra said sternly.

Riley gave her a look. It wasn't offended, and it wasn't angry. Just annoyed. "What? Are you blaming me and Dan now?"  
"No," Andorra shook her head. "Just pointing out that they've never had a normal life, and it isn't your fault for not noticing the abuse."

"Oh, I got over that already. Jessica wouldn't have allowed anyone to notice it. If I had noticed something, she would have effectively talked it away. And if she couldn't, I would have been the one killing Casey rather than her. It happened the way it happened. I'm not even sure it could have happened another way where neither child died as a result. I'm just pissed off because it isn't fair."

"Life is never fair," Andorra said.

"I know it isn't," Riley growled. "I'm just saying that I use to see myself in Jessica. Now she's beyond that…she's beyond what I was."

Andorra looked at Andre'a, but it turned out she didn't need to say anything. The girl held up her hands. "Okay, I'm gone," she said and left.

"Riley—"

"A dead Mommy and a Dad that was distant enough to be as good as dead that she was near depending on Danny for some sense of belonging, living in a place where she was the last to belong. This damn department…never enough kids. So you follow Aurors, particularly one that handles damn kids at his feet like it isn't the worse possible thing in the world. But I was wrong," he growled, tossing the memos he had been trying to read at the desk. "The dad was never distant. He wasn't running from them; they were running from him. But I didn't feel a fear that something terrible was going on that they needed rescuing from.

"They didn't win at that trial. They just survived another day."

"What is bothering you, Ri? I'm not Daniel; I can't read your mind."  
Riley was so intent on emptying Jeffery Ziners' murder investigation file onto his desk that she almost didn't think he was going to answer, but he did.

"Where there's one lie, there's many," he muttered.

"You think Jessica lied on the stand?"  
He nodded. "Yeah, I do, but that's not the point. Even if she didn't, she did lie. She always lied about everything when it came to her dad, to her life." Something wasn't coming out of his bag, and he struggled with it until he managed to get it out, and the bag fell on the floor in his thrust.

He dropped the piece of clothing – it was the blood-red shirt of Jessica's – on his desk before he leaned his hands on the desktop, head dropped, breathing hard.

"I hadn't seen Casey's injuries until yesterday in the courtroom," he finally murmured.

Andorra didn't respond.

"And the thing of it that bugged me…it's like it wasn't all that abnormal to him. He's this little kid…and he looks like he got blasted apart and put together again."

"It was pretty frightening."

"Casey always seems like he has it together. He's this 11-year old that's more mature than most of my peers…he's always so freaking calm and put together. And underneath that clothing – those silly, too old for him suspenders – sat battle wounds worse than the oldest of our Aurors.

"I don't think Jessica meted out extreme enough justice."

"Honestly, I think most of the courtroom would agree with you."

"How did Madeline not murder the bastard? How did she restrain herself?"

"Madeline had more at stake. And Jessica said it in your interrogation of her. Father had contacts."

"If I ever find those contacts, I'll tear them apart with my bare hands."

Andorra sighed. "I want to give you some vacation, Riley, because I seriously think you need it, but I'm afraid to let you loose just now."

"Don't give me a vacation. I wouldn't let myself loose now either."

Andorra smiled. Leave it to Riley to admit to his own lack of sanity.

"Tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

He sighed. "Maybe."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

One week later, Jessica and Casey pushed open the doors to Hogwarts, Uncle Danny in tow.

"You're lucky," Casey said. "I have to test on what I read and not on what I saw. You got to see everything in action."

"Okay," Jessica agreed but both males could hear the sarcasm in her voice. "We'll just beside the fact that I was an emotional wreck most of the term."

"Yes," Casey nodded, his voice serious, "And we'll beside the fact that I was in a hospital bed in pain most of that term as well."

Jessica frowned but forced a smile on when her little brother smiled at her.

"Let's go find Headmaster Dumbledore," Daniel said.

"We'll catch up," Casey informed and the two were going through the door to the dungeons before Daniel realized they were missing.

"Off to see Professor Rum."

Danny looked at the top of the Entrance Hall stairs. Professor Dumbledore stood at the top.

"They seem to be really close to him," Daniel remarked.

"And he to them."

"Strange friendship," Daniel murmured.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"We're free."

"I heard a rumor as to such," Gary murmured as he continued to clean the shelves in his office.

"I wondered for a bit there," Casey said, hopping up to sit on Rum's desk. Casey waited for Rum to call him off the desk, but Rum didn't look at him.

"It's weird living with Uncle Danny," Jessica said suddenly, surprising her brother. Rum glanced at her but didn't seem surprised at the comment.

"It will feel unusual for a long while," Gary responded. "It will eventually take on some semblance of normalcy, though you will probably never become completely use to it."

When silence fell on the three, Casey asked, "What are you doing?"  
"Spring cleaning," Gary murmured.

"No, you're not," Jessica said, drawing both their gazes again. "You wouldn't do that the Muggle way. You're either looking for something that has to be fetched by hand or you're cleaning something that needs a special type of care."

Gary smiled slightly. "The latter, though I am doing Spring cleaning. I knocked something over while doing that." When Gary's voice faded, and he looked intently back at his project, the siblings exchanged a glance.

_His shaking from his accident_, Jessica supplied to her brother's unspoken question.

Casey sighed.

"Is my final going to be tough?" Jessica asked, grinning when Gary threw her a look.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Her final was indeed tough, but she passed with a something on the low side of Exceeding Expectations. Transfiguration was also an E. The others were actually Outstandings. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the biggest surprise though. Medley had grinned as he handed it to her. She had only gotten a few wrong.

"It's possible, Miss Ziners, that you _might_ have a talent."

Casey, however, learned later in the day he had gotten a lot of points marked off, barely scraping by with an E. Jessica gleefully enjoyed it for only a minute, when a stern glance from Uncle Danny had quieted her.

They arrived home late that night. A message was waiting Uncle Danny; it caused him to frown before he told the kids to get into the kitchen and began eating their supper. He followed them in a little while later.

"What is it, Uncle Danny?" Jessica asked near the end of supper. He had looked all perturbed through the meal so far.

"Hm?" he asked once he swallowed.

"The letter. What was it?"

He was silent a moment before he shook his head. "It was nothing. Just a letter from Riley."

"Nothing? Yeah, right," Jessica said.

"Do you want to know something?" Casey interrupted any fight Jessica was preparing to stoke. "I think it's going to be interesting to be able to have a meal without worrying about Father interrupting."

Jessica nodded in agreement. "Definitely interesting."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Interesting. Definitely interesting."

Andorra gave him a sympathetic smile. "You're not just an uncle to them anymore. Well, to Casey you are. To Jessica, you're 'Father, Part II'."

"How do I prove to her that I'm not him?"

"You don't prove it to her. She'll come to terms with it in time. Until then, just keep at working being an uncle and a guardian."

Andorra and Daniel walked in silence for a time. While Daniel was sometimes annoyed at the distance between some of the buildings at the Department, he liked it at times because it provided him a place to cool his head.

After another moment, Daniel asked, "Everyone has been steering clear of me this week, so I don't know of any fall out from the trial."

"Was that a subtle way of asking me?" Andorra asked with a smile.

Daniel chuckled in response.

"It hasn't been all good," she answered with a sigh. "Some believe that you and I are both blind to Jessica and Casey's evilness and everyone knows better than to go against that."

There was a pause before Daniel asked, "Are we, Andorra?"

Andorra hesitated before shrugging. "We can't be sure. I think that both kids are in a place right now that we can't touch, and we can't understand. We also can't do anything about it now."

"Do you think that they know who this Voldemort character is?"  
"No."  
"Tell me the truth, Andorra."

"Honestly, Daniel? Do you want honesty from me in this situation?" Andorra glanced at him.

Without hesitation, Daniel nodded. He knew he was brutal with everyone, including himself. This was one situation where he knew that he couldn't lighten the blow for himself. He hated doubting his niece and nephew, and he wanted to make sure his trust wasn't misplaced right now. He needed Andorra to tell him that, but he knew he needed the truth even more. After over 12 years of lies, he needed the truth.

"I think there is a distinct possibility that they lied on the stand about that, but there is no reason for me to think that other than my gut. And my gut has been wrong before."

"Why didn't you call them on it?"

Andorra shrugged. "What 12-year olds have you met that murdered in order to protect their brother?"

"I'm sure more there are more than Jessica. Fortunately, most 12-year olds do not find themselves in that situation though."

"How many children followers of Grindelwald would have reacted in such a manner as Jessica did?"  
Daniel was silent.

"If Jessica knows Voldemort, I am sure she does not even realize it. And as long as you show her a good example, I believe that she will remain on our side."

"Do the Supreme Interrogators agree with you, Andorra?"  
Andorra shook her head. "No. Those that did not agree that the kids were wholly good only voted to free them based on politics. Everyone is in denial that we might be headed for another Grindelwald. This incident makes them afraid. Another evil entity training kids so not only will this adult generation follow him but the next as well… They do not want to see that again. I might be in that category; I do not know. What I do know is that what I saw and heard in that trial – that isn't something you would see with Grindelwald or a follower of Grindelwald."

Daniel knew she was right.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Lily is cute."

"So is Alice."

"And Kelly."  
"And don't forget Dorcas."

"But she's annoying."

"So is Lily."

"No, she isn't."

"Ahhhhhhh, James!" James glared at Sirius, but it didn't stop him. "You have a crush on Lily!"

"No, I don't. I think that you don't like her because she doesn't look at you with awe."

Sirius gave him a look and then a grin. "James and Lily, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

Sirius took off when James took off after him. Frank and Remus started laughing, Sirius and James following their lead as they tumbled to the ground, wrestling.

They had forgotten what they had been arguing about by the time they got up and fell back onto the ground by Frank and Remus.

"So, I heard your friend is free," Frank said, having heard about James's friendship with Jessica Ziners.

"Unfortunately, the judges in America are a little slow in the head," Sirius supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, Jessica went free," James said quietly, ignoring Sirius.

"Her uncle and her father. Both of them are bad seeds. It's not a far stretch," Sirius supplied helpfully.

"Nothing's a far stretch for you, Sirius," Remus replied, earning a nasty look. The 13-year old just grinned.

"I totally agree with you, Sirius," Frank said. "Except that one thing kind of doesn't settle with that."

"And what's that?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

"She was trying to save her brother. And I know that people follow what your sister spouted off, about Ziners trying to kill her brother and the dad trying to stop it, but then there's that other thing."

"What other thing?" Remus asked.

Frank looked over at the silent one of the group. "James knows."

"We shouldn't be talking about this," James murmured.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

James retorted angrily, "Because Jessica and Casey were being abused by their dad!"  
James took off back to his house, leaving Sirius, Remus, and Frank on the Black's front lawn.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next day, Drea met Riley as he walked into the bullpen.

"You got a hair cut."

"Yes, I did."  
"Why did you get a hair-cut?"  
"Because I needed one."

"You got a hair-cut."

"Yes," Riley turned and bit at the next person. "Oh, sorry, Miz Dumbledore."

Andorra smiled at him. "That's fine. You've had a long few months. But you got a haircut. Why? I thought you liked your hair shaggy."

"At least he didn't shave his goatee," Drea, the first person, said.

"I like my goatee, but I did need a hair-cut."

"Why did you get a hair-cut though?"

"Because I needed one."

"Because he was shedding the aggravation of the past few months," Daniel said as he walked into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement bullpen, reading a memo.

Riley didn't respond to that.

"What in the hell is with this?" Daniel asked, gesturing to the memo as he glared at Andorra.

"Not my idea. Melovic's. It's her solution."

"We've got a good set of lawyers for the Department that can investigate the departments at will," he said. "We don't need to bring a new one in for me."

"Yeah, she did. She wants someone who doesn't have anything to lose at the Department and won't be answering to the media. Only to her. Live with it because I think it's a good idea. Not that I don't have any faith in you, but I think it's good for Melovic's peace of mind."

Riley grabbed at the memo as Daniel walked past him. He read it. When he looked up to protest, Andorra held up both hands. "No. I won't hear it. Both of you set an example for your team and be good about this. It will only last a short time."

"A short time? Whose definition of a short time?" Riley demanded.

"Mr. Haderson, you got a hair-cut."

Riley held up his hands and yelled. "Newsflash, everyone! I got a haircut because I needed it. You don't need to notify me that I got a hair-cut because I was there when it happened!"

Everyone stopped to look at him, and when he realized this happened, he turned beet red.

"Nothing to see here," Drea stepped in, struggling to keep a straight face. "Go back to your work."

When they did, she turned to Riley. "You seriously need a vacation."

"I think you're right, Miss Kay."

They finally turned to see the newcomer and both stood up straight, almost as if going to attention. It was Tatianna Melovic.

"I came to see if Mr. Montgomery received my memo."

He grabbed it from Riley and held it up. "This morning, before I left the house."

"And?" Melovic pressed.

Danny glanced at Andorra and her pleading look before answering, "It's good if it'll make you feel better," he responded dispassionately.

"And you'll treat her with the same respect you would treat Miss Dumbledore, right?" Melovic pressed.

Daniel nodded. Melovic looked at Riley. It was a second before he nodded too.

Melovic nodded in response before leaving the group. Andorra left to do her own work then too, while the Dark Operators went to their office. The other four were in there already. Shutting the door, Daniel said, "Team meeting."

Riley and Drea went to their desks. Everyone looked at Daniel.

"To satisfy her conscience, Melovic is hiring a new lawyer for the Department. Her first assignment will be to examine us, to see if we are useful or evil." Daniel held up a hand when they looked about to protest. "This means our job at the Department, so I expect you guys to treat her with respect."

"What's her name?" Richie asked.

Danny looked back at the memo and read, "Elizabeth Murphy."

Feng cringed, causing Danny to enquire if she knew the lawyer. Feng nodded. "Yes. I use to work at the Auror office in Minnesota. She was a defense lawyer up there. She is a real bitch."

"Lovely. That's exactly what we need. Another bitch," Mark said.

"Guys, this is deadly important," Riley piped up. "We need to show this Murphy woman that we really are the good guys. Insulting her will not be a step in the right direction. Let's not get into the habit of calling her a bitch, even if she's not here."  
"Dude, you got a haircut!" Richie said, pointing.

Drea burst into laughter. Riley rolled his eyes.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"And Miss Dumbledore wanted me to inform you that Riley Haderson has been approved for a one month vacation." Louise set down a slip of parchment in front of Tatianna. It read, 'I have been informed that Commander Riley Haderson has been approved for one month of vacation time by Captain Daniel Montgomery, Subject's Ranking Officer, and Andorra Dumbledore, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.' There was a place for Tatianna to sign.

"Is this a common procedure?" Tatianna asked, picking up a feather pen to sign her name.

Louise shook her head. "It wasn't for Secretary Ziners."

So after she was done with Louise, Tatianna took off in search of Andorra. Tatianna had known one thing about this job before she took it and had learned one very important thing after having started this job. She had _known_ that politics would play a GIGANTIC role in her job. She had _found out_ that if there was one person you wanted on your side in the entire Department of Magic, it was Andorra Dumbledore. So, right now, Tatianna would not summon the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to her office. She would go to her.

When Tatianna entered Andorra's outer offices, her secretary stood up quickly.

"Hello, Madam Secretary," he said.

"Hi," she glanced at the name on his desk, "Mr. Hidleburg."

"It's Jeff," he said hastily.

Tatianna hesitated for a second before saying, "Jeff. I need to speak with your boss."

"She's in the bullpen. She usually is."

Tatianna chuckled, not entirely surprised. She turned out of the office and searched around the bullpen again. Over near the hall to the private offices was Andorra, leaning over another Auror's desk. Tatianna walked over but stood a distance away to allow her to finish without being disturbed.

It was only a second when Andorra saw her, Tatianna knew, but she didn't acknowledge her. It only took her three or four minutes to finish up. When she was done, she walked over to Tatianna.

"Yeah?"  
"Can we talk in your office real quick?" Tatianna asked.

Andorra nodded, the frown still firmly planted on her face. When they shut the door to the inner office, Tatianna said, "Don't worry. It's just a quick question of curiosity."  
"About Haderson's vacation?"  
Tatianna nodded. "It isn't usual procedure to notify me of your Auror's vacations."  
"Not usually, but it's different for the Dark Operators. The notification of vacation time is one of the security measures in place to help us to keep an eye on the Dark Operators. It wasn't in place for Secretary Ziners because Captain Montgomery didn't trust him and, frankly, I agreed."

"But I'm different?"

Andorra gave a small smile. "Apparently, you have a trail Daniel can follow and claims he can trust."

Tatianna grinned. "I thought that you said that Captain Montgomery didn't know of my past."

"As my oldest brother so graciously reminded me, even I can occasionally underestimate Daniel Montgomery."

Tatianna shook her head with a sigh. "Either a danger or an asset." She was surprised to see Andorra nod in agreement.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I'm gonna teach the heathens to play poker," Riley announced to the kitchen at large. It was two weeks after the announcement of Elizabeth Murphy's impending arrival. They were at Briana Manor, waiting for her arrival.

"You just arrived, and you're already gonna teach my niece and nephew a vice?" Daniel said from the kitchen table. Daniel and Andorra were drinking tea at the table as Daniel's turkey cooked.

Riley glanced curiously around the kitchen but saw no house elves. "You cooking yourself?"

Daniel nodded, causing Andorra to grin again.

"You _can_ cook?"

"Oh, dear," Andorra said with a chuckle. "Have we stumbled across something that Riley does not know about you, Daniel? I didn't think it was possible."

She received two glares, causing her to smirk.

"I can cook, and yes, you can teach the heathens poker."

Riley nodded and turned on his heel to head out of the kitchen.

"I hope he doesn't get lost," Andorra joke. They had just been talking about the large house.

"Oh, he won't. He's been spending most of his vacation here actually, especially hanging out with the kids when I'm at work, sort of babysitting them."

"What do you mean – 'sort of babysitting them'?"  
"They mostly took care of themselves with their father. They don't need that much watching over, according to Casey. And I don't think they need it either, but with all that's happened, I asked them to let Riley baby-sit them. It was actually Riley's initial suggestion, but I let him think that he's actually doing something."

"It's good for him it seems. I've noticed some change back to his old self. I've actually noticed some change back to the self he was at the beginning of his Auror career. I don't think I've seen him wear outright Muggle clothes this much in a long time." She was commenting on the t-shirt and jeans he was in today, which had become a common ensemble for him since starting his vacation a week ago.

"It's good for the kids too, I think. They – and when I say 'they' I mean Jessica – have become slightly less mopey."

Andorra smiled at him over her cup of tea.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Uncle Danny's seriously going to let you teach us poker?" Casey asked excitedly.

Riley nodded. "Yep. Well, you see, your Uncle Danny and I have an understanding. I stay out of his way, and he stays out of mine."

He didn't think they believed him because both kids burst into hysterical laughter. He led them to dining room table and grabbed at the deck he had stuck in his back pocket before coming over.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

About forty-five minutes later, Andorra asked, "Are you nervous?"  
"Nervous for what?"

"Miss Murphy."  
"Prosecutor Murphy," Daniel corrected her, causing her to cock her head

curiously at him. "It's what we've taken to calling to her. Sort of practice. It's also to remind us why we're respecting her."

"Because she can take your team apart?" Andorra asked with a laugh. "That's not respect. That's fear."  
Danny didn't respond to that.

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched shriek from the dining area. Danny and Andorra looked as it came closer to the door. Riley had Jessica over his shoulder. She was shrieking with laughter, slamming her hands against Riley's back. Casey was next to the two, grinning.

"I'm going to go throw your niece in the lake," Riley said as though there was nothing unusual about the activity.

"What was she doing?" Danny asked casually.

"Cheating at poker," Riley responded, turning away.

"Okay," Danny said to their backs. He was smiling, which caused Andorra to chuckle.

"He really is good for them," Danny said again, finally glancing back at Andorra. She nodded.

"And I think they're good for him. I always pictured Riley as an older brother but having no siblings…"

Daniel nodded.

Andorra glanced back at the door as Danny spoke again. "Her laugh. It's different."

"Happier," Andorra agreed with a smile.

There was a knock on the door.

Danny sighed, knowing as well as Andorra that it was Elizabeth Murphy. He and Andorra left the kitchen to greet the younger woman.

Elizabeth Murphy was only a little taller than Andorra but much younger. She was around Riley's age, Andorra thought. She had long, blonde hair and a petite figure, definitely catching any male interest. Andorra glanced at Daniel. He seemed too distracted to even take Elizabeth in. He had been distracted a lot lately, Andorra noticed silently. She turned back to Elizabeth. The girl would never notice it though if she got male interest. She was very good at her job, and a might bit snooty as well, Andorra had noticed when she had met her earlier that day, but the snootiness was not in her looks. She was very career oriented and very by the book. Oh, she would get along with the Dark Operators all right, Andorra thought sarcastically.

"Hello, dear," Andorra greeted. "I see that you didn't have any trouble finding the house."

Elizabeth nodded. "It's hard to miss."

Andorra ignored Daniel's soft snort of amusement at Elizabeth's words. There was the Daniel Andorra knew.

After letting go of Elizabeth's hand, Daniel took it. "Elizabeth, this is Daniel Montgomery, the commander of the Dark Operators. Danny, this is Elizabeth Murphy."

"Hello, Elizabeth. I'm pleased to meet you," Daniel answered politely, part of his old, long since lost British accent breaking through.

"I'm pleased to meet you too, Mr. Montgomery."

Daniel started laughing at the use of the 'mister' in front of his name.

Andorra started to say something but noticed that Elizabeth kept looking back at the door.

"Something wrong, Elizabeth?" Andorra asked.

"Um…," Elizabeth gave them an unsure look before finally deciding to say something. "There was a man out there throwing a young girl in the lake in your yard."

Daniel laughed. "Yes, yes. That's Riley, throwing my niece, Jessica, in the lake. You see, she was cheating at poker."

Elizabeth looked surprised that Daniel was allowing this punishment.

Andorra chuckled. "Oh, it's fine. She'll enjoy it."

Suddenly, a wet Riley, a wet Jessica, and a wet Casey walked in.

Daniel gave them a surprised look. "Now, how did all three of you get wet?"  
They burst into giggles. Casey explained, "Riley threw Jessica in the lake. After Jessica got out, she and I pushed Riley in the lake. After he got out, Jessica and he thought I needed to get wet too, so Riley threw me in."

Elizabeth looked shocked. Andorra smiled.

Jessica and Casey gave Daniel pleading looks. "Uncle Danny, I left my wand in the dining room. Can you dry me?" Jessica asked, her lower lip going out in a pout.

Danny rolled his eyes but said a spell and the young girl was dry. "Thank you, Uncle Danny," Jessica squealed, hugging his legs before running back into the dining room. Casey's lower lip went out in a pout too, and with another roll of the eyes, Danny dried his nephew.

"Thank you, Uncle Danny," Casey said before grabbing his legs in a hug then following his sister.

Danny gave Riley an apprehensive look, to which his second-in-command said, "Please, Uncle Dannyyyyyyy!"

This was followed by an even more dramatic rolling of the eyes before Danny said a spell, and the man was dry. A second before he did it, Danny realized Riley's next intention and tried to block him with his arms, but Riley still managed to give Danny a hug, "Thanks, Uncle Danny!" He said before running off, laughing hysterically.

"And that," Andorra said, "was Riley Haderson, the second-in-command of the Dark Operators."

"That gives me a lot of confidence in this team," Elizabeth murmured, causing Daniel to give her a look.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"I got better marks on my Defense Against the Dark Arts exam than Casey did," Jessica said once they were settled in for dinner.

"Jess," Daniel said in a threatening tone.

"Oh, let her have this," Casey said as he buttered a bun. "It's rare that she actually does as well as me on an exam, let alone better."

Jessica threw a bun at him.

"Cut it out, you two," Daniel said. Both of them nodded obediently.

"So, what's your favorite subject in school?" Elizabeth asked by way of trying to insert herself into a place that she glaringly didn't belong.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Jessica answered immediately. "Despite that asssssssssssssss…" she thought quickly, but Elizabeth saw that she couldn't come up with an appropriate substitute that would fit. Finally, she tried, "awessssome professor."

Elizabeth saw Haderson snicker behind his hand.

"You don't like Professor Medley?" Daniel asked.

Jessica snorted. "Hardly. But at least the relationship is mutual."

"Oh, I'm sure Medley likes you."  
Casey shook his head. "No, he really doesn't like her. Whenever Jessica gets detention, they give it to Medley to punish her even more."

Jessica nodded dramatically, causing Haderson to snicker even harder. The girl glared at him.

"What's your favorite subject, Casey?" Elizabeth asked the boy.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Transfiguration is pretty cool. I'm going to take Muggle Studies when I get the choice, so it will probably be that."

Elizabeth noticed that his sister gave him a look, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What do you think you're going to be when you grow up?" Elizabeth further pressed the boy.

He only shrugged. "My sister's keeper probably." His grin was positively wicked.

"Keep this up, and you'll be a bloodied and bruised sister's keeper," Jessica muttered before stuffing turkey into her mouth.

He merely smirked at her.

"What do you think you'll be when you grow up, Jessica?" Curiously, a darkness seemed to descend on not just Jessica but Casey as well. It was a good minute before Jessica responded, her voice quiet and devoid of the humor from only a moment before.

"An Auror."

The answer was simple and short.

Her uncle's response wasn't.

"Think about something else. I don't want you to become an Auror."

"Well it's good that it's not your decision then."

There was a silent look between uncle and niece until Danny said, "We'll talk about this later."

"Okay," she said in a snotty tone.

"So, Miss Murphy," Casey said as he cut into his turkey. "What was your favorite subject in school?"  
She smiled at him. "Defense Against the Dark Arts," she replied, and the moment she had been waiting for happened.

Haderson set his fork down. "You were a year behind me in school, weren't you?"  
"At one point I was," she murmured. "But I skipped my forth year. That put me in your year."  
His jaw moved for a second with nothing coming out until he gave her a look up and down. "You look different."

"So do you," she replied before taking a drink. When she set the cup down, she went back to cutting her own turkey. "You look a lot less like a snob than you were then."

Jessica spit the milk she had been drinking back into the glass.

Casey laughed. "It doesn't sound like she liked you much, Ri."  
"Don't worry," Daniel said to Elizabeth. "When he was 15, I didn't like him much either."

"I'm sure I would have kicked his butt when he was 15 then, if he were a snob," Jessica supplied ever so helpfully.

"Will you excuse me for a minute?" Riley said quietly and left before anyone responded.

"I didn't mean to embarrass him," Elizabeth murmured.

"Oh, you didn't," Jessica said, stuffing the rest of her bun in her mouth. "He had to pee."

Andorra covered her mouth as she started to snicker. Daniel covered his eyes.

"He had three glasses of water over poker then a full beer so far for supper. Drea said that whenever he's off-duty, he has this bad habit to wait to pee until he's going to die."

"I was saying in the other room," Andorra whispered to Elizabeth, "that these kids are like little siblings to Riley. Do you think I'm right?"

Elizabeth grinned and nodded.

"Did I miss anything?" Riley asked, walking back into the room.

"Jessica talked about your peeing habits," Casey supplied.

Suddenly, Riley was smacked with a piece of turkey. "There, you didn't miss anything now," Jessica supplied.

"See what I have to put up with," Riley supplied, pointing at the kids while looking at Daniel.

"I was reading," Elizabeth said as Riley sat back down, "it says that you're on vacation, Mr. Haderson."

"Yes, my first in three years. And I'm spending it with tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb over here." He got his revenge by nailing Jessica right between the eyes with a piece of meat.

"Hey, I expect that from those two, not you," Daniel admonished.

"Are they feeding you as a thank you?" Elizabeth asked, her voice deadly serious.

Everyone at the table stopped moving.

Suddenly, Jessica threw her fork at the table. The metal was fire-red, and Elizabeth realized that the girl had burned herself. She had magically heated the metal of the fork without noticing. As Elizabeth looked back at the girl's hand, she saw that it was already blistering. The twelve-year old put it beneath the table when she saw that everyone was looking at it.

"No, we're not thanking him for anything, Miss Murphy," Jessica said. She looked like she wanted to say more but suddenly stood up and took off to the kitchen. Danny, Riley, and Casey all took off after her.

"You know," Andorra said as she set down her own utensils and stood up to walk down the table to retrieve the girl's fork, "If I had to bet, I would have bet a galleon that it would have been one of the Dark Operators to stick their foot in their mouth first. I am surprised that it was you, the ever-so-silent Miss Murphy."

"It's a question that begs to be asked and answered, Miss Dumbledore."

"And you think that Mr. Haderson, Mr. Montgomery, or one of these kids are about to answer it?" Andorra was looking at the fork, a slight smile on her face. "Only twelve years old. Amazing."

"So opening their home to the Investigator that saved one of them from Azkaban has nothing to do with gratitude?"  
Andorra set the fork down at the side of Jessica's plate before returning to her own seat. "On Daniel's part, there is always going to be gratitude towards Riley but as to why he's spending most of his vacation at this house? This is the only family Riley has left. His parents are dead. He had no siblings. His old aunt is dead. He had no cousins. He hasn't dated since school. This is it. This is who he has in the world. Daniel, who's been his mentor since he came to live here as a young boy, and Jessica and Casey, who have always treated him like a brother. No more, no less."

Both women turned when the men and kids re-entered. Jessica had a bandage on her hand.

Elizabeth wanted to ask why Daniel didn't magically heal his niece's hand but the death look he threw at her hindered the question.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You're lucky that it isn't abnormal for kids to get emotional and have some wandless magic. If it weren't, that little stunt would have been questioned."

"It isn't my fault. She pissed me off."

"And no swearing! Did your father let your mouth fly so freely?  
"As a matter of fact, he didn't give a rat's ass! And I'm so sorry that I'm having difficultly stopping now, but you'll have to give me a few weeks to be a perfect kid!"

Daniel stopped his pacing and took a deep breath. He desperately wanted to send her to her room, but after hearing what had went on with her father, he wasn't sure that was a suitable punishment right now.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Jessica, I'm going to be having a hard few weeks coming up with this Murphy woman here. I know it's going to be hard to adjust to me, and I know it's going to be hard for me to adjust to you guys."

Jessica sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose." She rubbed at her shoulder as if she was in pain.

"Do you have an ointment for your back?" he asked quietly.

"Malf made me some yesterday." She patted her pocket.

Daniel nodded for her to come in from the doorway to the library, where Daniel had set up his work that he brought home. "Come here."

She gave him a curious look as she cautiously stepped in.

"Sit," he ordered, nodding at one of the sofas in front of the fireplace.

She sat, still looking unsure. "Give me the cream," he said, sitting next to her.

She finally understood, but she didn't give him the cream. She stood up instead. "It's okay, really. I can do it myself."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "I'm your uncle. It's okay for me to take care of you. Plus, I imagine that it's a little awkward trying to reach it yourself."

She bit her lip but handed him the cream.

When she didn't pull up her t-shirt, he gave her a look causing her to finally pull up the back of her shirt.

Daniel looked at the wound and got sick to his stomach. It stretched from her right shoulder to the lower part of her ribcage on the left side and was half an inch wide at either end, one and a half to two inches wide nearer to the middle. Daniel opened the tube that Malf had prepared, making a mental note to talk to that house elf but also being ready that he wasn't going to get anything out of him. He remembered Malf from his younger days. The little elf had been assigned to Madeline when they were children, and Daniel had never doubted that the elf would have given his life for her had he the chance. It didn't surprise him that he had transferred loyalties to his sister's daughter, the next Mighty Blood.

He gently rubbed the cream over the scar. She was tense the whole time he rubbed the cream and nearly jumped out of her skin when he patted her shoulder to let her know that he had finished. She never spoke. She only merely grabbed the cream and left the library without looking at him.

Daniel sighed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"You what?"

"I'm sorrys, Master. Was I wrongs?"  
"No, no, Molby. You were perfect. I'm just surprised." Severus Snape wiped at the spit on his chin. The ointment he had let Molby give him made the part of his lip that he applied it on numb.

"Whats was the potion she gaves you thises time, Master?" Molby asked, looking at Severus' split lip again.

"It was a liquid Imperius."

"Did it workses?"

Severus nodded. "Yeah."

"What dids she makes yous do, Master?"

Severus looked out the window. "I don't know," he murmured.

"Dids you wants the letter, Master?"

Severus turned back to him, nodded, and held out a hand. "Thank you for stealing it for me, Molby," he said with a rare smile.

The house elf grinned and pressed it into his master's palm. Severus excused him before ripping it open. It was from Jessica.

_Dear Severus,_

_ By now you probably know that Casey and I got through our trial and are free from Azkaban. They basically declared that it was self-defense. I think they also declared me insane at the time I murdered Father, but I don't know. Casey said they didn't, but I think he's lying to me there._

_ Riley took a vacation and has been spending most of it with me and Casey. That's been a lot of fun. He taught us to play poker. I'll have to teach you this school year._

_ There's this new woman at the Department. She's a lawyer. I think she's investigating my uncle, but I don't know. She's kind of a bitch._

_ Uncle Danny doesn't like me swearing. We've had a couple of fights about it. I'm trying to stop. I'm actually trying to stop! Can you believe it? _

_ It's going to be weird living with Uncle Danny. I'm not use to someone actually wanting to be around me and Casey. It's kind of a little suffocating. But Casey reminded me of the alternative, and I guess I'm grateful._

_ This is going to sound stupid, but I actually miss you, Severus. Stupid, isn't it?_

_ Later!_

_ Jess_

Severus smiled as he folded the letter shut and tossed it into the fire, along with the envelope. He didn't know why he was happy that she missed him, but he was.

Suddenly, he frowned.

He missed her too.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Andorra says that you stuck your foot in your mouth during your supper at Daniel Montgomery's house."

Elizabeth never looked up from the file in her hands.

"Did your re-meeting with Haderson go as well as you had planned?" Tatianna asked next.

"It went alright," Elizabeth murmured at the file.

"What do you think of it?" Tatianna nodded towards the file.

"It's perfect and tidy."

"But do you think it was influenced by his relationship with Daniel Montgomery and by his relationship with the kids?"

"Honestly, no, I don't. That was probably there. It just didn't influence how he investigated the case. Plus, his more intimate knowledge of the family probably helped him see facts on this case a more outside investigator would not have noticed." Elizabeth set the case file on Jeffery Ziners' murder back on Tatianna's desk.

"Do you have the clearance yet to hand me the Secretary Ziners file?"  
Tatianna shook her head. "It took a lot for me to get to that file. It will take a little more for you to…" Tatianna's voice faded off as she looked through one of her office windows. Someone had stopped by her secretary and was talking with her. Elizabeth turned. It was Daniel Montgomery.

"Madam Secretary," Louise Trivers, her secretary, finally said through the magical intercom. "Mr. Montgomery is here to see you."

"I'm in a meeting," Tatianna responded, going to her own file. Elizabeth knew she wasn't really reading and smiled at that.

"He said it's about the meeting you're currently in."

This caused the two women to exchange a curious glance.

"Send him in," Tatianna murmured.

Montgomery had to bend slightly to fit through the door. Once inside, door shut, he looked around the office. Elizabeth noticed that he had a few files in his hand.

"I haven't been in here in a long time."

"You and Secretary Ziners didn't get along?" Tatianna asked.

"That's putting it politely," Montgomery said, his eyes finally coming to rest on Tatianna. He paused a second before handing the files in his hand over to her. "The files on John Ziners, Grens, and Lemore. All of our contacts, meeting places, and such have been blacked out, but other than that, it's pretty readable."

Tatianna took them cautiously, giving Daniel a suspicious look. Glancing at Elizabeth, he explained. "I was informed that you were requesting clearance for Miss Murphy to the Law Enforcement's files on the case. Their files are only a page thin and don't give you much. Since I assumed that you would want the files on the Dark Operators case because it was Miss Murphy, I thought that I would let you read those instead."

"But…clearance…" Tatianna said slowly.

Daniel sighed. "Clearance for Dark Operators matters only need five signatures to be cleared – mine, Riley's, Andorra's, and two of our supervisory squad. I got them this morning."

"But a background check," Elizabeth said. "I know I've had one from my work in Minnesota, but—"

Daniel shook his head. "We've already done one, Miss Murphy, when we first heard your name. And our background checks are much more accurate than the one's the Department performs." He suddenly grinned at her. "I didn't tell Riley who you were because I thought I would enjoy seeing his reaction when he remembered."

Daniel turned somber again and nodded towards the files. "They don't leave this office, and no one can look at them but you two. When you're done with the files, just call me over, and I'll pick them up. Don't bring them over to me. I'll pick them up."

With that, he left.

"I bet when Casey Ziners is his uncle's age," Elizabeth said, "he will have the same exact personality."

Tatianna gave a slight grin at that.

Elizabeth chuckled at her own joke. "Is it just me or is that boy 11 going on 55?"

Tatianna actually laughed at that. "That's putting it mildly. The suspenders are a great touch, though, aren't they?"  
She laughed as well. "They were delightful. Jessica seems to be quite the handful though. Casey seems to be her leash to the real world."

Tatianna nodded. "I noticed that as well. Unusual that she then protects him as fiercely as she does and that he needs it."

Elizabeth was silent a moment, thinking about the testimony she had read last night. It had been the girl's testimony. She remembered clearly the part that she spoke about her mother and her mother's death. Finally, she shook her head, "Actually no. It's not that unusual. Casey's a normal, extremely smart, extremely mature child. Jessica is the eldest, the protector. She was given that duty by her own mother. Considering the moment when her mother gave it to her – the circumstances surrounding it – I wouldn't be surprised if Jessica had to give her life to save her brother's that she would."

"Madam Secretary," came through the intercom again, "I apologize, but he's insisting. Vince McCallen is here."

Elizabeth tried not to, but she snickered, causing Tatianna to give her a deadly look.

"Let him in," Tatianna grumbled.

"I didn't think you would," he said as he walked in, "but you did. You called in the cavalry."

"Hello, Vince," Elizabeth said, a smile in her voice.

"Little ol' Liz against the Dark Operators, Anna?" Vince sat down on the second chair, giving Elizabeth a scrutinizing look. "I think Montgomery could step on her."

"You're right, Tatianna," Elizabeth said. "He does need the occasional ass whooping."

Vince grinned. "And who's to say I wouldn't like that?"

"Note to self," Elizabeth murmured, "ask Ambassador Brighton why ever he would have hired a diplomat like Vince."

"Because I'm not suppose to be the diplomat but an asshole."

"Well, you've got that down pat," she give him a cocky grin, causing him to laugh.

"Was there a reason you came today?" Tatianna asked.

"Actually, a very influential man at the Ministry was curious as to how this little thing with you and the Dark Operators is going to turn out."

"Malfoy?" Tatianna asked, disgust in her voice.

Vince laughed but shook his head. "He's not _suppose_ to know about the Dark Operators."

"Emphasis on 'suppose to'?" Elizabeth asked.

"Big emphasis."

"Why do you say that?" Tatianna questioned.

Vince sighed, pausing a moment before explaining with one word, "Voldemort."

"You think the Ministry of Magic is run by someone who's following the man that supposedly killed the previous Minister of Magic?" Elizabeth asked.

"In all probability. It's common knowledge among the folks in England that Malfoys are generally bad seeds. In other words, they are desperately trying to find a replacement while Malfoy's desperately trying to halt it. Word is that some on Magical Law Enforcement have a short list of two names and will shove one forward very persuasively next week."

"So we should probably have an interesting announcement next week. It will be intriguing to see how Malfoy will back out of it," Tatianna sighed, leaning back in her chair with a sigh and a crossing of her arms. "Then who was it that sent you on a fishing expedition to my office?"  
Vince shook his head. "Sorry. I really can't say who it was. Just don't worry about it. He's a good guy and is just curious about…his, let's say, co-workers." He looked back over at Elizabeth. "So, what's your pre-assessment?"

"You can guess my initial thoughts, but I'm wanting to make a final judgment until I've properly investigated them."

"Okay, that's what I was here for," Vince said and stood up with a smile. After he bid his goodbyes and the door was securely shut again, Elizabeth turned back to her file.

"I don't understand why you ever broke up with him," she said to the file.

"I would think his constant teasing of you would irritate after awhile."

Elizabeth looked back up at Tatianna, giving her a sudden grin. "He was flirting, and you are jealous."

"He flirts with everyone so don't feel special."

And while it drove Tatianna nuts that Elizabeth just threw her head back and laughed, it made Tatianna smile a little. Vince may not understand why she chose Elizabeth Murphy, but this was why. While Tatianna was in an angry fit, all Elizabeth did was laugh. She may never appear as much, but she was tough and never scared. Even of a large man and his merry band of misfits.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"She called in a criminal lawyer named Elizabeth Murphy. She's got training up the ying-yang. National and international experience. Had offers from everywhere in every country where she could speak the native language. Took a little office in Minnesota when her mother got sick. After she died, father got sick, she stayed. And then just didn't move for a while.

"I met Liz quite awhile ago. I was working at Lipsky & Borton then. She interned there and worked on a few cases I was also working on.

"To put it short, she appears nice and friendly and is, to a point. However, that's not how she deals with her professional life."

Marcus smiled. "A real pistol?"

Vince nodded. "And then some. But the fortunate side is that she is extremely intelligent. She was actually advanced a year in school."

"Let's hope she isn't by the book all that much."

Vince laughed. "Imagine that. A Potter okay with by-passing the ever handy, ever popular, infamous 'book'."

Marcus didn't comment. He and Vince had a surprisingly good work relationship, but Marcus did know that he had to put up with Vince's occasional 'Potter bashing' comment. He almost always bit his tongue just to keep the peace.

"Yeah, I think she will put the okay on the Dark Operators. I'm not guaranteeing it, but I wouldn't worry too much."

"With this Voldemort, the Dark Operators will be a great resource." Marcus sighed. "But I guess it's good to put the heat on them every once in awhile, just to prove to them that they are not totally invincible to the bad guys and to their own side."

Vince nodded in agreement. "So, any other errands you need of me?"

The Auror grinned but shook his head. "Not yet, errand boy."

The lawyer chuckled.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Landon Scooner."

"Ah, come on!"

Brittany Potter laughed. "You sound like James."

Marcus Potter rolled his eyes at his wife. A couple of days after Marcus' visit with Vince, Malcolm and Amelia Black were having tea after the two families had shared a dinner. James and Sirius were horsing around in the Black front yard. Amelia Black had just revealed the name of the new Minister of Magic.

"Landon Scooner is going to make our Auror lives a living Hell, especially while hunting this Voldemort." Marcus knew he would have to rely on Daniel Montgomery more than ever during this time now, which caused Marcus to sigh again. That Auror was having his own set of problems now, with a new Secretary that wasn't any more pleasant than Scooner would be, and now this lawyer investigating his team. Not to mention getting use to being a parent to two very depressed children.

Marcus sighed dramatically again.

"Scooner may be a bureaucratic ass, but he's good at holding things together. He did very well as the Ambassador of Magic in Israel, which you know is a very hard post."

"How long did he have off before you guys considered him?" Brittany asked. He had only been back in town for a week.

"Well," Amelia hesitated a moment before saying, "He was actually still the Ambassador when Mr. Snape brought his name up to me as a suggestion. I spoke his name behind closed doors well before I suggested him to Malfoy."

"I'm sure you asked Scooner before then," Brittany said with a small smile.

Amelia nodded with a laugh. "Oh, yeah. We wanted someone good, but we had to make sure he was ready to deal with Malfoy." Amelia looked back at Marcus. "He told Malfoy because he was going to get demoted that he was worried about the man's ability to follow orders. Malfoy assured him through clenched teeth that he would follow orders just alright."

Marcus merely sighed.

Malcolm shook his head at the younger man, a slight smile on his lips, before he changed the subject. "The School Governors released the restrictions for the Ziners kids just before they took their final exams. Both kids did exceedingly well, which disturbed some of the governors."

"They will live with a black cloak the rest of their lives, I imagine," Marcus replied sadly.

"I know that James is well acquainted with Jessica. How is he taking it?" Amelia asked.

"And how is he taking my mouthy son on it?" Malcolm added.

Both parents frowned. "James is refusing to talk about it," Brittany said. "Though Marcus and I have both tried."

"And he just ignores Sirius," Marcus said. "He's always been able to handle him."

But later that night, Marcus wasn't so sure. After the Blacks left, James locked himself into his room for the better part of the evening. Marcus tapped on his door twice with his knuckles at about 9 p.m.

"What?" came a grouchy reply.

"Let me in," Marcus called back.

"It's locked." But Marcus could hear that James made no move to change that situation.

"Do you really want me to unlock this door, James?" his asked, his voice only slightly threatening.

He heard a quiet sigh but compliance. When Marcus entered the room, James was lying on his bed, a Snitch flying in the air in front of his face. Every once in awhile, he made a grab for it before throwing it up in the air again. Except for one candle and the quickly setting sun viewable from his window, the room was dark.

"You've been as silent as a stone since Sirius left," Marcus said as he turned James' desk chair around so he could sit down and face his son.

"Got a lot on my mind."

"Is it about Jessica Ziners?"

James' silence answered him.

"Is it about the abuse from her father?"  
James was still a moment, his eyes glued to the Snitch, before he shook his head. "No."

"What was Sirius saying then?"

"Sirius says a lot. Doesn't mean that I listen to it."

Marcus smiled. "Well, that's good."

James sighed. "I know what happened with Jessica's uncle. I know what they said that Jessica's father did. It's hard to believe that Jessica didn't notice anything. But she told the Supreme Interrogat that she didn't know anything about Voldemort." He looked away from the Snitch to stare out the window. His voice was quiet when he said, "And then I remembered what Sirius had said to you about Daniel Montgomery, about being friends with the good side and thus being able to spy on them. I have to wonder, Dad."

Marcus nodded. "That's understandable."

James gave him an aggravated look. "You're suppose to tell me that Jessica's not a bad egg."

Marcus grinned. "If I could tell that for sure, I would be a whole lot better at my job than I already am. And I would need a lot less people to help me."

"You're not helping me though."

He sighed. "I am sorry, but there is no way to know who a person is truly. Let me ask you this – if you forget what everyone has said about Jessica Ziners while remembering exactly who her father and her Uncle Jonathon were and remembering what you, personally, know about Jessica from your own interactions with her, do you think Jessica Ziners is a bad egg?"

When James started to shake his head, Marcus stopped him. "No. Think about it. Take a few minutes."

Marcus waited as James looked back at the Snitch. He could see his son thinking intently, nodding slightly at times before shaking his head. Slowly, his head lowered, and he shook it. "No. I don't know how much she isn't telling us, but I don't think she's a bad egg."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Daniel stopped by the hallway to Jeffery's study. Jessica was in the hallway, leaning against the wall straight across from the doorway to the study. Her hands were behind her against the wall, and she was staring at the door. It was shut, but he knew that in her mind, it was wide open.

He stood there for a long time, just looking at her. She didn't look depressed or defeated. She just looked there, intently there. Her shoulders were relaxed…almost tiredly so. She was so much like her mother that it scared Daniel. He remembered what Casey had said on the stand, that Jessica always said that she was like her father but that she wasn't. She was like her mother. And Casey was right. She was the head of her family and not willing to let anyone – either father or uncle – to take that position from her. He knew that he would always be fighting to help her because she wouldn't allow it. Exactly like her mother. Maddie wouldn't allow Danny to help her. As she fell further into her husband's trap, she fell further from him, her own brother. Danny had forced himself to brush it off because short of giving her the Imperius Curse, he couldn't force her to do anything. He had a feeling the same was true for Jesse. Damn kid.

Suddenly, Jessica turned. Before Danny had a chance to say something, she turned and took off the other direction. Danny followed her. "Jess," he called, but she didn't turn. He tried again, but she still didn't turn. He followed her upstairs.

When they started past the library, she stopped, backed up a step, and turned into the room. She walked over to one of the shelves and grabbed a book. _Potions Every Auror Should Know_ was the book. Danny wondered what Jeffery would want with that book, but he forgot about wondering when Jessica looked at him with annoyance.

"Did you need something?" she asked, irritated.

"Are you still sure you want to live in this house?"

She nodded. "Yes. Is that it?"

"I'm sorry, Jessica."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry that you couldn't tell me. Sorry that you can't tell me."

"Shut up. Shut the hell up," she growled and started past him, and he did something he knew he probably shouldn't have done. He grabbed her upper arm, halting her exit. She turned on him, angrier than he had ever seen her in her entire short life.

"I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you about it! But I tried, and I murdered Mom! She couldn't tell you because he would murder Casey! Or he would torture me! And I didn't care, but after that time in the study, when he forced me and Mama to watch…Uncle Danny, I couldn't…"

When the sob broke through, he rushed over to gather her in a hug, but she stepped away.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't…" she held her hands out as if to ward him off, using her left robe for a moment to wipe the tears off her face.

"Do you know," she said, getting some semblance of control over her emotions for the moment, "…do you know what it was like to have my hands on his throat when he was giving me one of his fake hugs and knowing that I was that close to killing him, to ending all of this? He choked Mama until she did what he wanted, and I kept thinking that I could do that, but I was too chicken.

"I'm sick of hearing 'poor Jessica'. It was never poor me. It was poor Casey. At least I was worth the air I breathed. To Dad, Casey wasn't worth the dirt beneath this house. And the thing of it all, the thing Dad never realized! The thing was...I couldn't have survived this far if it hadn't been for Casey. I hope…" she was sobbing so loud that she had to stop talking when her sobs became near screaming, "…and I hope Casey knows that to me, he was worth my life! He was my reason for surviving! Not just because I survived for him! He held me up! He was my strength! He was my mind! He was my sanity! I never…I never had a reason to live but for him! But it wasn't just about making sure he survived! He gave me hope! He gave me hope that there was life beyond Dad! He gave me hope that that life was worth trying for! He gave me hope that I was worth a chance! Pass this trial! I never wanted to live to go to trial! And he convinced me to work at it! To live! He is the only reason I'm trying to live beyond it! And Casey had no reason to hope! He was just a tool to that asshole! Just a means to get to me! He barely had a name to him! But he's the only reason…he's the only reason that Jeffery Ziners is dead and that I'm not in Azkaban where I should be! It's not poor me! I'm sorry that I didn't tell you! And I'm sorry, but Casey couldn't either! But stop being pissed off about it because it's done! And stop treating me like I'm a little kid that doesn't know what I did wrong! I know what I did. I looked a man in the face and shouted the Killing Curse, knowing it would make him die. I knew his heart would stop beating even before he hit the floor! I know what I did, Uncle Danny. I could have continued to try to tell someone _something_, but I wasn't willing to pay the price, I wasn't willing to save a life that wasn't worth saving only giving up a life that was worth it! Casey was the helpless one. I wasn't!"

With a wet face, Jessica turned out of the library and ran to her room.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Danny sat on one of the library chairs and put his face in his hands. He was at an utter loss.

But, like his niece, he was about to be held up by a little boy.

"Uncle Danny?"

Danny looked up and brushed at himself to gather himself before looking at the boy.

"It's okay. I heard all of it."

Danny looked at Casey with a worried look on his face. The boy smiled.

"Don't worry. I've heard it all before."

Danny patted the chair next to him, and Casey took it. Uncle smiled at nephew, amused by the fact that he himself had trouble finding legroom, but his nephew's feet dangled, barely touching the floor.

"Jessica's complicated. She wasn't like that before Mama died, but after that happened, she felt guilty," Casey sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before he continued. "I remember Grandma Jessica said that for some, the Mighty Blood was never a gift. For some, it was just there, nothing more, nothing less. And for some, it was a burden that only weighed partially. But for some, it was a burden that was so heavy that they could sit in the most beautiful, secluded oasis in the world and still feel so weighed down by the burden that they want to collapse under the weight even if they are sitting. I remember she used the word oasis because I had to look it up.

"Anyway, Jessica's of that last category. But then the guilt of Mama's death was added to that weight. And then my life was added to that weight.

"And even though she can give up that weight now, she's had it for so long that she doesn't know how to let go of it."

Danny sighed and paused in silence for a time before turning to Casey with a half grin. "How did you become so wise?"

"Lots of time to think. The most I was ever allowed out of my room was my first year at Hogwarts. I had to make the occasional appearance around and not look like I was locked up at home, so Father let me out occasionally. But, beyond that, I was in my room, usually recovering from something. So I had a lot of time to think. And read." Casey smiled. "I had lots of time for reading too." He laughed then. "I guess that might also be the reason that I hardly ever grow. Never time and no chance for a lot of physical stuff."

Danny paused before squeezing his nephew's knee and saying, "No, the lack of height is so others will underestimate you. You've got big, ol' me, so people are more defensive, but you…you, they won't think will be a problem. But that's untrue, isn't it?"

Casey chuckled and nodded slowly, "In more ways than you know, Uncle Danny. In more ways than you know." He stood up. "In the meantime, I've got to go get Jessica out of bed."

"Why don't you get her out to ride a horse?" Danny suggested.

Casey turned to him, a surprised look on his face. "That really okay with you? Dad wouldn't let us ride the horses unless we were being rewarded for something."

"Casey, you will be able to do a lot more with me than you could have done with your father. Even get into trouble. But I will punish you. I just won't beat you, torture you, or confine you to your room for endless amounts of time."

Casey, still partially turned for his exit, looked down for a moment. After a minute, he looked back up, "Can I make a request, S…I mean, Uncle Danny?"

Danny had cringed at the almost 'Sir' but let it pass without incident. "Anything, Case."

"For punishments, can it be something other than being confined to our rooms? Something like cleaning the Muggle way or something?"

Danny nodded. "I think that can be arranged."

Casey grinned and started to exit it, but he was stopped again but by Danny rather than himself.

"Casey, can you tell Jessica about the 'doing anything you want' and the punishment stuff? I think that might bring her around a little."

Casey shook his head. "No, that's your lot. I'm not about to be yours and Jess' go-between. I got my own life to lead. But I'll give you a tip when talking to her."

"What's that?"

"Never summon her. That's what Dad would do. From his study, he would scream, 'Jessica! Here! Now!' That kind of thing. Don't do that. Jess has a problem remembering that you're not Dad. It's best not to act like Dad then. See ya!" Casey yelled and left successfully this time, leaving a smirking, chuckling Danny behind him.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Casey kept looking at his sister throughout dinner, causing Danny to smile but not comment. Finally, as their plates were nearly cleared, Jessica finally said what Casey had apparently been waiting for.

"Uncle Danny, since you're in charge of our inheritance until we're of age, we were wondering if you could do something for us with it."

Very curious, he replied, "Depends. What do you want?"  
"Dad use to help Mr. Evans' business. We were wondering if you could

continue to do so with our inheritance money."

Danny smiled and nodded. "Do you want to invite Lily and her family over? I can talk to her dad then, and we'll set something up."

Jessica smiled and nodded.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lily smiled as Jessica led her into her home. Lily had been here only once before, when she had been six-years old. She had remembered it as a big, brooding house, and she had been very scared of it. But now it seemed different, almost friendlier. It was probably because, this time, Jessica was all grins.

"Uncle Danny wanted us to move to his apartment, but this is where Mom was, so…"

Lily nodded in understanding.

Jessica turned back to Lily's parents. "Uncle Danny will be here in about ten or so minutes. He gets off at five. It's usually later, but now that he has us, he's been getting off at that time."

"Who was the man that picked us up?" Mr. Evans asked.  
"Riley Haderson. He's my uncle's second in command. He's been on vacation."

"He's the one that investigated Jessica's situation," Lily added.

"What does your uncle do?" Mrs. Evans asked curiously as a house elf took their coats.

"He's an Auror. One of the best in America as a matter of fact." Jessica smiled proudly just as the door opened. It was Daniel Montgomery.

"Hey," Danny said with a grin. He shook the Evans' hands and introductions were exchanged.

They ate dinner together and had quite the animated conversation. Afterwards, while the kids went off to play, Uncle Danny set up things for investing in Mr. Evans' business.

Afterwards, Jessica and Casey were delighted when they heard that Uncle Danny and Lily's parents decided to treat the kids by letting Lily stay the night. The next day, there was a depressed departure. Jessica and Casey went out and about the Department for the rest day and didn't return until just before supper. It was after supper that an ugly Eagle Owl arrived at the Manor. It dropped a letter in Jessica's hands just as they were about to leave the dining room.

Danny stopped to look at her as she silently opened the letter. He would have left the kids to their devices but upon turning again towards the door, he noticed the look on Casey's face. It was a look of pure apprehension.

She read over the letter before frowning, but when she looked up, she forced a smile on her face. "It's from Tom, my godfather. He wants us to spend the week before school with him."

Danny gave her a curious look. "Do you want to go?"  
Without breaking eye contact, she nodded. "Yes. It would be good to spend time with him."

When Danny walked out of the room, Jessica and Casey turned towards each other.

"That was a nice, _short_ vacation," Casey murmured.

To be continued…

Teaser: Chapter 15 is titled: "Casey's Battle".


	15. Casey's Battle

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex at charter dot net)

**Chapter 15: Casey's Battle**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author's Note:** I think I keep forgetting to officially mention this. My fiction is entering the alternate universe territory. Actually, technically, it's been there since the beginning. But I'll give you the specifics now: When I enter Harry's time (in "The Ties That Bind: Part 2, The Second Rise), I will be replacing Rowling's Books Five, Six, and Seven with my own novel. I will incorporate her newer rules and items from Books Five, Six, and Seven into my fiction as best I can, but I will give you no guarantees as to what exactly will fit into my fan fiction. I will do my very best to keep as true as possible.

On this note, I will not be using the Horcuxes from Book Six. I sincerely wish I could (for I very much love Rowling's creation of the Horcuxes), but I cannot. I already have rhyme and reason to both Harry's and Voldemort's survival, and my reasoning is way too intricate to my own plotline.

And now let the fun commence…

**Timeline:** A little over a week before the start of school.

"There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations."

Francois de La Rouchefoucauld

"One week."

Jessica nodded.

"I do not like it."

"Join the club, Case," Jessica sighed impatiently. "But it's what he wanted. We have to go with him sometimes. No way to go around that. As long as we can kind of see what he's doing, we can try and save lives."

"We should just tell Uncle Danny," Casey said grumpily.

"We can't. We tell him that we know who this Voldemort is and that he's got someone inside the Department, we have to make every single step – no matter how minute – just right or Uncle Danny, Andorra, and Riley are all dead. And then there's no guarantee I can keep you out of Azkaban as well.

"I don't want to go through this one more time, Case. We've got to stop believing that we will suddenly have help. It's just us, Case. It's just us."

Casey gave a deep sigh as, with a wave of his hand, his luggage was finished and packed. "He's going to try something during this week."

Jessica walked over to Casey and smacked him lightly on the head.

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They arrived at the Malfoy's first. Tom had the house elves bring their luggage to his place, but the Malfoy's were having a party. _Ick_, Jessica thought to herself but refrained from mentioning it to Tom.

"I don't like these things," Tom whispered to her, shocking Jessica. She knew he didn't care for them, but the fact that he whispered that to her was almost frightening. "But sometimes, to get what you want, you have to please people you don't all together like." He smiled at her, but instead of the wicked, 'I know what you're thinking' grin, it was just a warm, friendly smile.

When Tom walked away, Jessica and Casey exchanged a look.

_Something's rotten in Denmark_, Casey said. Jessica merely nodded at him.

They let the adults grab their drinks and do their thing while Casey and Jessica searched out for classmates, grabbing pumpkin juices on their journey. They found Salazar and his gang, Jim Jones included.

Casey groaned in dismay. _They got to him_, he said to Jessica.

Aloud, he said, "Hey, guys."

The group nodded a return greeting. Jessica glanced around a second longer before nodding to them.

"My brother," Salazar said, "is indisposed for the rest of the summer. He's gravely ill."

Jessica gave him a worried look. He smiled in delight.

She schooled her features and reprimanded herself. She had to get better at this. In only a split second of thought, she had a response. "Salazar, your mummy was asking for you over there," she said, looking into her pumpkin juice, "She needs her testicles back."

Jessica thought Gibson and Brigham were going to snort pumpkin juice out of their noses. Salazar turned beat red. Casey grinned at her like a proud little brother. It was only Jim who remained emotionless. He was taking a sip of pumpkin juice when Jessica looked at him and though their eyes met briefly over the top of his glass, he didn't act as though she had said something she shouldn't have.

Jessica spotted Rabastan over Jim's shoulder.

"I'm going to go speak to Rabastan, if you all do not mind." Jessica started towards her Quidditch mate and, upon noticing that Casey chose not to follow, she glanced back to ensure he was safe before heading towards Rabastan. To her dismay, Tom veered over to Rabastan at the same time. Tom had Rabastan's parents in tow.

"Hello, Jessica," Rabastan greeted. "Sir, Mother, Father," he greeted in the other direction.

"Rabastan," Mr. Lestrange said, "I was just telling Tom what a great Beater you are."

Rabastan smiled modestly. "No, no," he said.

Jessica grinned at him, nudging him playfully in the shoulder. "He's being modest, Sir," Jessica told Tom. "He really is a great player."

"I'm nothing compared to our Seeker," Rabastan said with a laugh.

"Rabastan," Tom said, grinning at the two almost like a proud parent, "Jessica is staying with me this week. Why don't you come over and play a few rounds of Quidditch with her sometime? I think I might like to join in too, if you are both willing to go easy on an old man."

Jessica paused a second in her act. It was enough for Tom to notice, she knew, but the Lestranges acted as though they didn't see anything.

Rabastan smiled at Tom. "You're not old, Sir," he said. "And I would be honored to merely play Quidditch at your home with Jessica. It would be awesome if you did join us though, Sir."

Tom nodded with an almost shy, modest smile. "And maybe even young Casey can join," he suggested after a moment's pause, glancing at Jessica. "Do you think he would be up to it?"

Jessica hesitated a second before she shook her head. "I don't think so. But it would depend on how he felt when we were going to play."

The two nodded and the group moved on to other topics, leaving Jessica to look around the chessboard of her life desperately to find where the black king had just moved. She was left without finding him. The only thing she knew was that he hadn't left the board yet.

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"I heard that your father held the Cruciatus on you so much that you have a terrible wound on your back. I actually have a similar one on my back."

They were on their way through Tom's modest manor. Tom had just shown Casey to his room and was now bringing her to her room. It was on the other side of the house on the second floor, a floor up from Casey. If Jessica were to bet, Tom's bedroom was nearer to her than Casey's was.

Tom's words surprised Jessica. She was still wondering what he was up to, but she replied quietly, "Who put yours there?"  
He was silent for a time before he said, "Experience put it there, just as it happened to you. I didn't realize how badly Jeffery was treating the both of you and for that, I apologize. As much as I don't care for your uncle, I am glad that you are away from your father." He paused a moment before adding, "I wish you had said something to me. I would have put a swift stop to it."

"But I thought you were okay with hitting people in order to get what you want."

"But there is a line you should not cross. Plus, some violence does toughen one up. Think of Sirius Black for example. He could do with a few hits, couldn't he?" He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "It would toughen him up and teach him to give a little respect to others.

"But what your father did," he growled, shaking his head. "That was beyond the line. And your Uncle Jonathon standing by and not saying a word to me? I am glad he is out of the picture." He said with pure vehemence in his voice, surprising his goddaughter.

He came to a slow halt in front of one of the many doors and sighed. "Well, here is your room." Tom gave her one last look before saying, "Did you need someone to put the cream over the wound on your back?"  
Jessica shook her head. "No, that's fine."

Tom nodded. "If you're sure…"

"I'm sure."

"Okay, then. Well, good night and sweet dreams, Jessica," he said before turning on his heel. Jessica stood there and watched him, knowing that he knew she was watching. Sure enough, he entered the room three doors down from her. She opened her own door then and walked into her room for the next week.

Wow. Her jaw literally dropped in awe as her eyes moved around the room. It was the room of a princess. It had a canopy bed with curtains that were see through but had glitters, like stars, and the room itself was blue, dark, dark blue, and looked like it had stars glittering on the ceiling. It was a beautiful room. Jessica liked the night. A clear night with stars. And that was what this room was. A clear night with stars.

Jessica ran a hand across the feather-filled bedspread on the bed. It was cool and smooth. And thick. She watched her hand sink into the bedspread as she thought about Tom.

He use to always try to control her every movement. He tried to get a reaction out of her, and he was over-pleased when he succeeded. That had pissed her off and again, and that was another reaction out of her that pleased him.

Jessica's brain was fighting with her. He was out there. He was within her grasp. She kept picturing his face. His grin.

Narcissa had said that she thought Tom was cute. He was. Jessica wasn't going to deny that. And many of the kids were jealous of her. They knew that she was Tom's pet. She was his goddaughter.

She should like that position. A guaranteed life. A life she knew…

NO! No. She had Casey to think of.

But he would be protected. She wouldn't have to fight anymore. Uncle Danny wouldn't die. Tom had once said so. He would make sure he and Riley and Andorra would stay safe, he had told. They would all stay safe. And Jessica knew that she could convince Lily…

NO!

"Mistress?" a house-elf asked, peaking in, startling Jessica out of her revere. It was a young one, Jessica saw, and a girl.

"Yes?" Jessica asked.

The house elf walked in, shy but curious, struggling to keep her eyes on the floor in front of her.

"I came to asks if you needs anything befores you goes to bed."

Jessica hesitated before shaking her head. "I don't need anything. Is my brother settled in his room?"

The house elf quickly nodded. "Yes, hes is. Baver…mys brother…is checkings ons him as we speaks."

Jessica smiled at the house elf. "What is your name?"

"Weverly," she said, her eyes meeting Jessica's but moving away immediately.

Weverly bowed. "If you needs nothings, Mistress, I wills takes my leaves."

Jessica nodded as the door shut.

It was the life of a princess. Being envied. Being feared. Being waited on.

And this room. Jessica looked around it again, her eyes staying on one particularly bright star, her hand pressing into the bed again.

And most of all, no more fighting. No more being alone…no more being alone…

Jessica changed into her pajamas – a dark blue silk top and bottom that had been made especially for her according to Tom's note in the drawer where her clothes should have been put – and laid on the bed, sinking into it practically. It was the most comfortable bed she had ever laid in. As she drifted off to sleep, only one sentence drifted through her thoughts.

No more being alone.

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Two nights later, it was a Tuesday night, and it found the siblings walking through the house and onto the front lawn.

"Meals fit for a king. Joking around with us. Being pissed off at Dad. Continually being worried about me. Asking if you're having problems with your back. Buying us presents. Talking to us about school. Talking to us about Severus. Talking to us about Jim Jones! Helping me repair my broom. Who the hell is this man we're staying with?"

Jessica shrugged. "I don't know, but I hope he stays around."

Casey shook his head, but Jessica didn't see it because she walked over to Rabastan. They had just left the house, Tom and Rabastan already there, to engage in a Quidditch game of sorts. Casey decided only to sit and watch, while the three played.

Casey was worried about Jessica. He was really worried about her. At first, she kept wondering what Tom was up to. Casey hadn't stopped wondering that, but Jessica had. She seemed to like the new Tom. She had let her guard down.

But it would be all right. Once this week was over, Jessica would be released from Tom's spell of charm and niceness. She wouldn't cross over to Tom's side in a week.

Casey's heart stopped in sudden doubt. He knew that Jessica was tired and not all that ready to return to fighting the verbal, mental, and emotional war that they waged with Tom. But after all Tom had done to them, surely she wouldn't even consider giving up the fight in a week's time of charm and niceness from Tom.

She wouldn't. Would she?

Casey shook his head, telling himself that it was a ridiculous thought.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

It was Wednesday night when Casey's bad feeling grew worse. He hadn't seen his sister since lunch. He had asked Tom to talk to her, and Tom came back with the message that she would meet up with Casey later on in the day. She hadn't met up with him at all. Casey asked a house elf, and the house elf said that 'Mistress Jessica' had left with the 'Master'. He trusted that if his sister hadn't talked with him or left him a message of some kind that she absolutely wasn't able to.

So, all afternoon and a better part of the evening, Casey traversed the house, ending up in the library. The library was a dream come true in Casey's opinion, causing the boy to smile at the irony that it was located in the house of his sworn enemy. For four hours, he looked at the books, taking some down to read a passage or two. By eight o'clock, his fears growing at the lack of return of his sister (as he was sure that when she returned she would search him out), Casey ended up at the other end of the library, staring at a large statue of Salazar Slytherin holding a snake. Casey looked hard at the statue, especially into the gem-studded eyes of the snake. He knew that he was looking at something important. He didn't know why he knew; he just knew.

Suddenly, he felt warm breath blow across his ear. Spinning around, he saw nothing. He worried for a moment that someone was near but hidden, and his eyes searched every crevice of the library, but he found no one.

Casey closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wondering if his worry for Jessica was making him crazy. When he took his deep breath through his nose though, he smelled wild flowers, which reminded him of his mother; the thought caused him to smile as his mind's eye remembered her.

And just as suddenly as he had felt the warm breath, Casey received an irresistible urge. He turned and laid a hand over the head of the snake.

"By the power of my Mighty Blood," he said, not even thinking, just letting his feelings guide him, "allow me passage beyond Salazar's guarded domain."

To his shock and surprise, the statue moved, turning around to reveal a bookshelf the quarter of the size of the ones in the room. It contained a lot of books which, upon Casey's closer inspection, were diaries.

And not just any diaries. They were Tom Riddle's diaries.

Casey moved towards them despite his fears, knowing that these diaries could hold secrets that could kill Tom. And his feelings continuing to guide him, he moved forward, his hand laying over one near the middle on the top shelf. He grabbed it and opened it randomly.

But before he could read, he heard a whisper that caused him to drop the book.

"Hurrys, Master Caseys. Master is backs."

Casey turned to see a young house elf. She was near the door, keeping a look out. When she turned back to Casey and saw that he was not moving, she told him to hurry up. Confused but not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, he turned back to the diary on the ground. It was open to a different page than the one that he had originally opened it to. Not knowing what possessed him but only that he should keep following his own instinctive feelings, Casey ripped out three pages, closed the diary, placed it back on the shelf, and stepped out of the way as the statue closed the secret shelf again. He stuffed the pages into his pocket and picked up the nearest book, _Animagi_.

"Casey, there you are."

Casey turned as casually as possible towards the voice. Tom Riddle stood in the doorway.

"Hi, Tom," Casey murmured, turning back to the book in his hands.

"I guess I should have expected you to be in the library." There was a smile in his voice, but Casey didn't turn to see it.

"Your sister is going to attend a meeting with me tonight, and we'll be accompanied by Mrs. Snape. Some of her house elves came to bring her luggage as she will be staying here awhile. I just came to bid you farewell for I probably won't see you before bedtime."

"Where is my sister?" Casey asked more to the book than anything, but he glanced at Tom at the end of his question.

"She's downstairs with Rabastan. His parents are going to pick him up at the meeting."

Casey nodded, wondering why she didn't come up here. Even she could have finagled that, despite Tom.

"She's had quite a day," Tom said in answer to his unspoken question. Casey suddenly understood something, but it only left him more confused. "It will be her first meeting tonight, and that is very exciting. I believe that she can barely wait."

_Liar_, Casey thought. A fleeting thought after that one told him that he at least hoped Tom was lying.

Glancing around the library again, Tom smiled at Casey. "Stay in here as long as you like. It is a beautiful collection."

Casey rolled his eyes to Tom's back.

Once he was alone again, Casey noticed the house elf that had warned him to Tom's coming. She had stayed out of the way while Tom had been in here, almost hiding behind a chair. Once Tom left, she peaked her way out, but she was very careful to stay out of the way.

"I haven't seen you yet," Casey said. "What's your name?"  
She nearly ran over to him. "Molby, Sirs. I'ms a house elf ofes the Snapeses, specifcallys Master Severus."

Casey grinned. "If your Severus' house elf, why did you come with Mrs. Snape?"  
"Masters Severus askeded me to sneaks ins, Sirs. He hases a letters for Mistress Jessica."

Casey's grin only grew. "So Severus has a pal, sort of like Malf." To the house elf, he asked, "How did you know that my name is Casey?"  
"Master Severus tolds me abouts you. Sayes that yous were smalls, hades glasses, and didn'ts looks like a Deathes Eater."  
He chuckled. "That's a compliment, I suppose. Do you have the letter for Jessica with you?"  
Molby nodded. Casey held out his hand. "Why don't you give it to me? I'll hand it over. Less conspicuous if you please."

She immediately handed the letter over and looked immensely relieved that the burden was off her small shoulders. "Master Severus sayes yous trustesworthy, Sir. So I trustes you."

Casey chuckled.

"Okay," he said. "You better get back with the other Snape house elves before anyone notices that you're missing. In the meantime, I'm going to grab something to read." Casey turned back to the bookshelf, placing _Animagi_ back in its place, expecting the house elf to leave. He was surprised when he suddenly noticed a small house elf finger point to a volume on the shelf.

"My Master hases thats book. It ises his favorites, methinks."

_The Art of Legilimency_. Having never heard of Legilimency before, Casey picked the book up.

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The diaries, Molby, and Severus' letter long forgotten, Casey laid in bed, his eyes wide open as he stared at the dark ceiling. He was listening for Jessica and her return, knowing she would come to his room.

He had no idea how lost he was beginning to feel for he would not allow himself to consciously recognize the feeling. His entire life, it had been Jessica and Casey, not just Jessica and not just Casey, but Jessica _and_ Casey. And now Tom was slowly and strategically stretching and breaking the weakest threads in the fabric that bound the siblings, Jessica's life-threads being much weaker and more susceptible to tear at the moment.

This wasn't like Jessica, to be in the same house and not be near or in contact with him on a regular basis, and Casey was beginning to fear that Tom had used the Imperious on her, or that she was possibly hurt or even dead.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Casey looked at his watch again. Since the candles next to his bed remained lit, their fires burning deep, he was able to see the rounded pocket watch that lay on the table next to his bed. Three a.m.

Casey got up with an angry sigh, put his slippers on, and slipped out of his room. Out of habit, he walked quietly, though he really didn't care if the whole house knew his mission. Neither Tom nor Jessica had spoken of the location of Jessica's bedroom, but in Casey's earlier journey through the house, he had discovered it. The only thing Jessica had said about it was that it was three doors away from Tom's. In Casey's earlier perusal, he had discovered something else about the room. It was connected to Tom's by a magical portal across from Jessica's bed. It had unnerved him because he could half imagine what Tom could use it for.

Not caring if and almost hoping that Tom was in there, Casey pushed open the door. He went to Jessica's bed, threw back the covers, and received a very cranky reception.

"Casey!" she half yelled, half growled.

"Get up," he growled back. She opened one eye and glared at him.

"Either go to hell or go to bed. I don't care, just get out of here."  
"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Out with Tom," she snarled, pulling her covers back up, pulling them over her head this time. They struggled a minute with the blanket, Jessica finally giving up.

"Where were you with Tom? What were you doing?"  
"Different things. Let me go to bed, Casey," she whined. "I'm so tired."

Against his better judgment, Casey turned and made as though he was going to walk out of the room. He was only part way there when he stopped dead in his tracks. It was only then that he realized his mistake. On the way here, he had thought of the possibility that Tom was in the room, and how he honestly didn't care. In hindsight, he knew that the actions and words exchanged in this room were different than they would have been if Tom was there because, in Tom's presence, they were playing a game, a game whose rules had to be obeyed when all the players, friends and foes, were present. When their foe was not present, the 'friends' were naturally different around each other, allowing weaknesses and emotions to be spoken aloud and clearly shown, including if there were fights between the 'friends'. Naturally, you didn't want the foe to know if you were fighting with your friendlies. It showed a weakness, a weakness that the foe could easily exploit.

But since Casey hadn't seen Tom in the room when he had entered, he had allowed his aggravation for Jessica to show, to manifest itself into a fight. After all, since the foe was not present, the weaknesses of their side could show.

But the one thing Casey had forgotten was that he was a wizard that lived in a world of magic and Muggle fantasy, where unicorns existed and flying by broom was common.

And things such as Invisibility Cloaks were real. And were used.

Casey's eyes looked at the area in front of the magical portal, knowing now that he was not the only awake soul in this room. As he looked at the spot where he knew that Tom stood, he could almost feel the man smile.

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When Casey arrived downstairs the next morning, he found Tom alone at the breakfast table.

"Jessica's still asleep," Tom said by way of greeting. Casey looked at him a moment, watching him take a bite of eggs and chewing it slowly. The man merely stared back, his face and eyes unreadable.

Casey took a seat and remained quiet as a house elf put a plate in front of him. Sausages and eggs sunny side up. As a house elf set down a glass of orange juice, Casey realized that they just had put his favorite breakfast in front of him. Dad's house elves had spoken more about him to Tom than he had realized.

Casey went into his breakfast as silent and docile as a lamb, and Tom left it that way for a time. When he finally spoke, it was so casual it was almost as if it weren't the man that had killed Casey's mother nearly six years before this moment.

"I noticed that your sister sleeps late often, as opposed to you who wakes up as early as you should on a school day."  
Casey nodded silently.

"You two are as different as night and day."

Another silent nod.

"And she's much more talkative," Tom said with a smile.

But his smile was never returned.

Tom sighed. "Casey, I know we've had a rough going of it for a long time now, but your sister is warming up to me. She's forgiven me; why can't you?"

Casey's glass of orange juice exploded. Tom barely got out of the way of a shard as it flew past his ear.

Without blinking an eye at the incident, Casey turned to Tom. "I have a photographic memory, Sir. I know who and what you are. Don't ever expect me to forget it."

A house elf replaced the glass of orange juice.

"If you know who and what I am, Casey, and not like it as much as you appear to, why don't you speak of it to your Uncle Danny?"  
His voice low and his eyes dark as they turned to Tom, Casey said, "You know very well why, Sir, but just remember this – there is only one of you. There's two of us."

Tom laughed as he raised his glass to the boy. His grin wicked, he said, "Let's just see how long it will remain that way."

Several shards of Tom's own glass lodged into his hand as it exploded as well. Tom's roar reverberated around the entire house but never woke the sleeping Jessica.

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"Master," Ignatius tried again. "I do not like this. These kids are trouble."

"I will decide who is trouble and who is not!" Tom screamed. The pain in his hand was almost unbearable. But he would not show it. That insolent little kid! He should beat him.

But he would not. Because Tom swore to have the one thing Allan Grindelwald did not. Patience. Gentle prodding. He needed Jessica Ziners and beating her little brother would not bode well with the sister. He still was working at separating the two.

"Master—" Ignatius made to try again. He was backhanded before Tom grabbed his jaw and brought his face close to his own.

"I will decide what you like and what you do not like. And you will like these kids."

Because, Tom said to himself, come Hell or high water, these kids would be his.

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Casey had the day alone again. He spent the morning reading the book he had retrieved from the library the night before. The book confirmed his fleeting suspicion from the day before and his constant suspicion from previous times. He had always felt that Tom was able to read their minds – and now Casey knew he was. He was surprised that he had never discovered Legilimency before; then he supposed that he was right about another thing. Father and Tom, though encouraging Casey's love of reading, believing that it would serve them in the long run, had carefully selected the material Casey had access to.

Casey made a mental note to ask Severus about Legilimency.

Lunch was a very placid affair. He saw Molby again and tried to invite her to lunch, but he terrified the poor elf more than anything, so he gave up quickly. Casey was able then to read a few more chapters while he slowly munched on his sandwich.

After lunch, Casey was going to go back to the library to look for another book on Legilimency or even Occlumency but on the way there, he remembered the items in his pocket. He had a habit of switching his pocket items from his dirty trousers to his clean trousers. He would barely look at the things until he figured he should clean his pockets out. And even though he hadn't taken conscious notice of it this morning, he had taken subconscious notice of it, notice that didn't register until his trek to the library had dislodged the memory of the night before, before his incident with Jessica and then with Tom this morning.

Tom's diary pages sat in his pocket!

Casey turned on his heel and went to his room. He buried himself under the covers, his wand in hand. He pulled the pages out, cast a light, and read:

_ January 2, 1956_

_ Jeffery was able to steal a few more diaries away from Madeline. She has no idea._

_ I read one of them this afternoon. There is, unfortunately, nothing new. _

_ January 5, 1956_

_ I read the last of the newly possessed diaries this morning. It was a wealth of information! It's most valuable item was on the Submission Hex, a hex cast by Madeline's Great-Grandmother. Its purpose was if a Mighty Blood was unable to perform their duty, they could submit their powers to someone else. This other person would have to use the Mighty Blood's body as a vessel, but the powers belonged to them._

_ According to the entry, it said that the one that would receive the powers was to say 'Submith' with their wand over the head of the Mighty Blood, then the Mighty Blood must say, 'I submit'._

_ Madeline is a heavy sleeper, so it would be little problem to cause her to say that while she is first waking up. The only problem is that the spell-maker suggests that the Mighty Blood has to feel very trusting (or submitting) towards the caster. It is to prevent this from happening under the Imperious. However, with the way Jeffery has been treating Madeline, I don't view this as much of a problem._

Feeling sick, from both the heat under the blanket and his reading material, Casey pulled himself out from under the covers, sticking the papers back in his pocket as he did so. A house elf was waiting for him on the other side.

"Go away!" he yelled. The house elf ran away.

Casey sighed. Submission Hex. So this was what they had meant on Christmas Day when they had talked about Mom submitting to them. And this was what Tom was trying to do with Jessica.

He had wondered why Tom would need a way to Jessica's room, but now he knew.

He had needed her asleep to cast Submith over her head.

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It was that evening when Casey saw his sister again. She ate supper with him. Tom was absent. But when Jessica showed, Casey hadn't expected Tom.

The silence at the table was unusually awkward. In his entire life, Casey had never experienced a truly awkward silence with his sister. But, today, he wasn't surprised. It was the first time that he had seen her since the night before.

His head resting on his left hand, his elbow resting on the table, Casey played with his soup.

"How was the Death Eater meeting?" Casey finally asked when Jessica made no attempt at a conversation.

She started to say 'good' but managed to stop herself after the 'goo'. Her eyes glancing nervously at her brother, she mumbled instead, "It wasn't a Death Eater meeting."

Casey had read every single one of Uncle Danny's old Auror textbooks from cover to cover, and right now one of the lessons came back to bite him in the butt and forced his mouth shut for the moment. 'Always remember who the enemy is and is not. Never make enemies of your friends.'

Though acting like a twit right now, Jessica was still his friend.

"Has Tom continued his nice act?" Casey asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yeah. But I've been wondering about the act part. You see, I was thinking about this. I wonder if it was just an act to get Dad's money."

Casey stopped playing with his food, looking at his sister over the top of his glasses. "Oh, dear," he finally said, "You are serious, aren't you?"

"Casey…" she groaned.

"Oh, man; it's bigger than I thought it was. Not only are you serious, but you actually believe it."

Jessica fell back into silence, starting to play with her own soup.

In one pocket sat the pages from Tom's diary and in the other sat Severus' unopened letter. And they would remain there, Casey decided, until Jessica became herself again.

Casey glanced across the table again, at his sister's bent head. Her hair was the same color their mom's had been, a light brown. At that moment, Casey nearly reminded her of who Tom really was.

But, per their previous agreement, he did not speak aloud of it. The day Mom had died they had agreed to not speak aloud of it unless it was completely necessary, like when Riley had asked them questions about it.

After all, Jessica wouldn't forget what Tom had done to their mother.

Would she?

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After supper, Casey went back to his room and pulled the covers over his head once more. Underneath, using his wand for light, Casey pulled Severus' letter out of its envelope. He read it.

_Dear Jessica,_

_ Yes, I heard about the Department's verdict. My father had told me that he thought you would go free, and he is never wrong._

_ I agree with your uncle. You should stop swearing. It is unbecoming of a lady._

Casey snorted in laughter.

_And no, I cannot believe that you are actually trying to obey an adult. You should try that at school. You might get through a week without detention then._

_ Do enjoy living with your uncle for you won't be able to do so beyond Hogwarts._

_ I will see you at school, Jessica._

_ Cheers,_

_ Severus_

Casey sighed as he folded the letter back up and stuffed it back into his pocket, for the first time beginning to fear that Severus might actually be right on this.

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The next night, Tom took Jessica to the Black's for a late dinner. Fortunately, this Black family did not claim Sirius as a brother or son but as a cousin and a nephew when they only had to in public, which they managed to make as minimal of an occurrence as possible.

Belisma Black and her husband – Sirius's uncle – were both there, along with Narcissa and Bellatrix. Bellatrix was crooning over Tom without trying to make it too obvious, while Narcissa and Jessica sat, somewhat separated, talking about the boys and everybody else at school.

"Lucius' hair is so beautiful though."

"I like black hair better," Jessica replied. "Like Rabastan's or even…" she glanced at Bellatrix. Narcissa recognized the wicked gleam in Jessica's eyes with a twinge of nervousness. Coughing in a bad attempt to cover up what she was about to say, she said, "Or even Rodolophus."

She drew the attention of Bellatrix and the three adults at the other end of the table. She grinned and waved back, knowing they heard her. The parents looked uncertain of how to respond while Bellatrix rolled her eyes and Tom grinned in amusement.

Rolling her own eyes at Jessica, Narcissa moved on. "Or Severus," she added to Jessica's list.

Jessica reluctantly agreed. "Or Severus."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Narcissa asked with a giggle, leaning closer. Jessica grinned and nodded. "I also think Simon Bogut is also kind of cute."

"The Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain?" Jessica asked in quiet surprise.

Narcissa nodded with a huge smile.

Jessica giggled. "For being blonde, he is kind of cute," she agreed.

Both girls went into renewed giggles.

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After dinner, they returned to Tom's house. When Jessica was done washing up for bed, a house elf informed her that Tom wanted to see her in the library. When she entered the library a few minutes later, dressed in her silk pajamas, Tom was leaning against the mantel of the fireplace looking into the flames of the fire, holding a drink filled with an amber liquid.

She had to cough to get his attention. He turned to her with a smile. "Hello, Jessica. I was wondering…did you enjoy your evening with the Blacks?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"It looked like you and Narcissa were having a good time."

Barely suppressing a giggle at the memory, Jessica nodded. "Yeah, we had a very good time."

Tom gave her a soft smile. "It's nice to see you smile again, Jessica. And it was nice to hear you giggle at dinner tonight."

Jessica's grin grew bigger, and she felt happier than she had in a long time. She nodded at Tom before bidding him a good night and started to leave but stopped at the doorway. When she remained silent for a time, Tom asked, "What is it, Jessica?"

She turned and hesitated a minute before saying, "Can I ask you a question, Tom?"  
He slowly nodded.

Again, she hesitated, but finally asked the question that had been burning on her brain since she had found out about it from Narcissa earlier today, "What was it like to grow up in an orphanage?"

Tom's face became stony for a minute before he asked quietly, "Who told you that I grew up in an orphanage?"  
"Narcissa told me. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have asked." Jessica's quick get-away was halted when Tom spoke again.

"No. It's okay that you asked."

She turned back to Tom, who broke eye contact with her almost immediately. "It was…it wasn't the best place, but I survived." He smiled up at her, though she could tell it was forced. "Just like you survived."

In response, she looked down, saying quietly, "Tom, you said that you would kill Daniel, Andorra, and Riley."

He was silent so long, that she was forced to finally look back up at him. He was looking thoughtfully at her, but, strangely, the look was almost comforting. His voice was soft when he answered her. "They could always remain safe, you know?"

Looking at him for a long time, Jessica nodded. "Yes. I think I understand now. Just a step away from me," she whispered, looking at the distance between herself and Tom. "Right?"  
Tom nodded. "Right."

She sighed.

"Do you get picked on at school, Jessica? For being who you are? For being as powerful as you are?"

Surprised at the question, Jessica slowly nodded.

"By who?"  
"Narcissa's cousin, Sirius Black." After a moment's hesitation, she smiled slightly. "Just a step away, right? He wouldn't pick on me then. He wouldn't be able to pick on me…" The implications of that statement were left unsaid.

Tom nodded. "Just a step away."

When Jessica left to go back to her room, the compassion and kind smile fell from Tom Riddle's face almost instantaneously and was replaced by the grin of a thief that was just about to break a Gringotts bank vault.

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In his entire life, Casey had had one wish for his sister, but now that that wish was granted, Casey didn't want it anymore. This morning, his sister had greeted him with a light-hearted smile. His entire life, he had waited for that light-hearted smile with her green eyes and an ease to her shoulders, and this morning, he was greeted to his face with it.

And it scared him to the tips of his toes.

But Casey did not show his fear. Tom was present, and he refused to allow Tom to know of the depth of his fear. Tom had been right. There were two of them against him – but for how long? How long did Casey have?

"Hey, Case," Jessica said. "We're going to Knockturn Alley today, and Tom said that tomorrow, he's going to bring us to Molly's. She'll bring us to get our books for school."

"Yes, I wrote to her yesterday. I received a return owl this morning," Tom added as the three sat down for breakfast. "She agreed to take you to Diagon Alley."

Casey nodded mutely. After a few minutes of silence, Casey asked, "Why are you going to Knockturn Alley?"

Jessica looked at Tom and the two exchanged a look before Jessica answered, "Tom heard about my interest in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He thought that investigating the Dark Arts instead of just investigating the defense against them would help me learn a lot more about the subject and its in-int…."

"Intricacies," Tom supplied.

Casey only nodded, very aware that Tom was watching him very closely. After another moment of silence, he said, "You are up early, Jessica." He put a big bite of egg into his mouth.

"Tom woke me up so that we can get to Knockturn Alley and back before lunch."

Another casual nod and Casey was looking back at his breakfast. He looked up at Tom. "Maybe sometime you could take me to Knockturn Alley. That would actually be kind of cool. But not today. I've just discovered your library. I don't want to leave it yet."

Tom, who had been about to take a drink of orange juice, paused, the glass nearly pressed to his lips. He was looking at Casey, his face frozen. On Jessica's chessboard, the biggest pawn of Jessica's had just made a very unexpected move, catching the other side off-guard. But suddenly he smiled. "Maybe another time, Casey."

His face never cracking a grin, Casey returned Tom's look evenly. "Yes, another time."

Tom chuckled.

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Jessica laughed at Tom's bad joke about the hand that Jessica was looking at in Borgin & Burkes. "I don't think so."

Tom grinned.

"Hello, Sir." The two looked over to see Ignatius and Lucius Malfoy enter the store. It was Ignatius who had spoken.

"Hello, Ignatius," Tom said over his shoulder, bringing Jessica over to another item to explain it to her.

"Hi, Lucius," Jessica whispered before following Tom. He nodded coolly at her.

"You two don't appear to be getting on well," Tom commented quietly when the Malfoys were out of earshot.

"He's still sore about my getting Seeker and him not."

Tom chuckled. "Well, the better player won, according to Rabastan."

"You appear to talk to Rabastan a lot…for his being a kid and all."

"I talk to you a lot as well."  
"Well, I know why you talk to me a lot."

Tom chuckled, avoiding the question by starting into the next item. They were interrupted again a few minutes later by an annoying voice Jessica could have gone until school without hearing.

"Hello, Master." It was Salazar Snape. Jessica turned to the voice half-hoping to see Severus and was delighted when her half-hopes came true. Severus stood a few steps behind his brother. She grinned at Severus, who nodded, almost shyly, at her.

Tom looked at Salazar blankly for a moment before glancing back at his brother. "Severus," he greeted, almost warmly, surprising both Jessica and Severus.

"Hello, Master," he replied quietly.

"What are you doing in Knockturn Alley today?" Jessica questioned, looking just at Severus, but Salazar answered.

"We're suppose to meet Mother here. She's getting some ingredients for a new potion." The last was said with a smile towards Tom. Apparently, Salazar thought that the fact that his mother was making a new potion would impress Tom, but Salazar thought wrong.

"Severus, would you like to join Jessica and myself? We're doing some investigation on Dark Arts. Apparently, that's Jessica's favorite subject in school."  
Severus looked nervous, but one look at Jessica had him nodding. "Yes, Sir. I actually quite like that subject as well."

"Great. Um…" Tom looked uncertainly at Severus' brother. "If you could tell your mother that your brother is with me?"  
Jessica had to give Salazar credit for the attempt at a face lack of horror, though he was quite unsuccessful. He nodded mutely before turning on his heel to leave.

Once the trio was alone, Tom re-started his explanation on their current item and its uses. For hours, Severus, Jessica, and Tom went from store to store, Tom teaching the two kids about all kinds of Dark Arts. Suddenly, it was 1:30 in the afternoon, surprising the kids, who had felt only an hour of the time pass.

Tom offered to take Severus home. They used a Portkey just outside the Leaky Cauldron, in the side alley, to take them to the village near the magically hidden manor of the Snapes. They walked up to the manor, Jessica and Severus going on and on about the Dark Arts lessons they had received this morning, Tom interjecting occasionally. By the time they had reached the manor, they were still in high spirits. That was shot to Hell when they were greeted in the foyer by Rebella Snape. Though oozing with charm for Tom, even Jessica caught the looks she tossed her son, and they were nothing short of vicious. When Jessica and Tom left, she was worried.

"Is everything okay?" Tom asked, now always seeming to know when she was worried.

She shook her head. "I'm worried about Severus."

"Do you want me to check in on him?"

"Would you?" she asked excitedly, relief in her voice.

Tom nodded. "Sure. Anything for you."

She smiled.

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Later that day, late afternoon to be precise, Casey was once again prowling the halls of Tom's home. It was a nice home, too large for a single Auror but bought with his earnings as a for-hire before he worked for the Ministry.

While wandering, Casey found himself back in the library. And once again, he found himself opening the secret shelf and staring at Tom's diaries. Continuing to let his feelings guide him, now sure he was not alone but being guided by a spirit he sincerely believed to be his own mother, Casey reached out, randomly took another diary, and opened it to the middle.

May 30_, 1943_

_ Dumbledore knows. That meddling twit knows. He is watching me. Every move I make, he is watching me. I would kill him, but, if I did, the entirety of the Ministry would be on me. But it is not as Madeline says – I am not afraid of him!_

_June 5, 1943_

_ I will kill him. It will be spectacular. Everyone will see it, and it will hurt everyone. But I cannot kill him now. I must wait until everyone is afraid of me, including Dumbledore. His death will be sweeter when everyone knows who did it. And then I will get away with it._

"Are they interesting?"  
Casey spun around. Tom was standing almost directly behind him. Casey was frozen with fear. Tom didn't look mad, but he didn't look happy either. Casey worked hard and unfroze himself, turning stiffly on his heel. He returned the book before ordering the shelf closed. He walked past Tom, towards the door.

"Are they interesting?" the man asked again. Casey turned to see Tom still facing the closed shelf.

"Not really," he replied. He saw Tom's back stiffen slightly.

"You're not really a good liar, Casey."

"Am I not? Are you sure?" Casey could barely make his responses for his heart was pounding so hard in fear. He rarely faced Tom alone, and when he did, he was never one to respond to Tom as Jessica usually would.

And now Casey knew he was right before, that night so long ago as he had sat next to his sister in the Hospital Ward, Tom's threatening letter in her hands, Casey's legs unusable.

Casey was no longer a mere pawn in Tom's game.

Tom turned, uncrossing his arms as he did so.

"Are you sure you want to go down this path?" he asked Casey quietly.

"I've never had a choice about my path, Lord Voldemort. What?" Casey asked with a grin. "Now that you've made this bed, are you afraid to lie in it?"

"If the bed ever bothers me, I remake it. And I have, only just recently." Tom grinned.

Casey ground his teeth, causing Tom's grin to widen.

Casey turned and left, his heart still pounding.

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Casey needed to see Jessica. Ever since he had run into Tom in the library, Casey had needed to see her. It was past supper. He couldn't find her in the dining room. He didn't find her in her bedroom. He didn't even find her in Tom's bedroom, and he refused to acknowledge why he even looked in there.

He started back towards the dining room and ended up running into Jessica in the sitting room just before the dining room. She was looking at a book. Glancing up as Casey entered, she smiled. "Look at this, Casey."

Casey walked to her tensely and looked over her shoulder. It was a picture that had Jessica grinning. In it, there was a group of people walking in a dazed like state. Casey recognized the picture. He had seen an identical one in one of his own books. They were Inferi, people brought back from the dead and controlled by one person and usually used for an army. They were the bodies but not the real people.

"Inferi. They are brought back from the dead…" Jessica trailed off, and then snorted. "Ah, look who I'm talking to. Of course, you know what they are. They seem really cool, don't they? They'll be useful in the coming war."  
"Useful for whom?" Casey asked darkly. "Our side or Voldemort's?"  
"Tom's, silly."

Casey hit the book from Jessica's hands, and it went flying across the room. "Silly!" Casey yelled in rage. "What the Hell is going on with you, Jessica!"

She looked confused. "Whatdaya do that for?"

"Because you're being an idiot! If Voldemort used Inferi, Mom would be among them. He would use Mom's body!"  
"No, he wouldn't," she said, her voice becoming angry. "I know he wouldn't."

Casey advanced on her, pointing his finger at her, getting dangerously close to poking her eye out. "No. He would. If there is one thing we've learned in life, it's that Tom despises his enemies enough that he would torture them to death, but he hates those standing in the way of his greatness much more, enough to torture them then to desecrate them in their grave.

"But discussing Inferi is not why I was looking for you. Tom has you, and I want you back!"  
"What are you talking about, Casey?" she backed away from him, becoming aggravated when he merely followed her.

"Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort, thief, liar, abuser, and murderer. He took Mom's life, and he took our lives before we ever started living them. Tom doesn't want you for you – he wants you for the Mighty Blood that flows through your veins!"  
"But—"

"I don't care what you say Tom will and won't do! Our entire lives, he's been after the blood in your veins, and he has no reason to change that now. But he does have reason to treat you differently than he ever has. Dad isn't here to run interference. Uncle Danny has us, and he's unwittingly now a player in Lord Voldemort's game. Danny has a stronger influence on us than ever, and Tom's running scared."

"Tom's not running—!"

"He is running scared!"

"No, he's not! Because I already told him I would stay with him."

Casey's whole world shifted on its axis.

"Casey, it's okay. Don't you see? It'll only get better from here. Uncle Danny, Riley, and Andorra will be fine! They all will be. And we won't have to fight anymore. No more fighting the battle. No more just _us_. Tom's with us now. He'll make it alright. Everything will be alright with him. We won't be alone anymore," Jessica explained.

If she didn't look so sincere, Casey would have thought she was pulling an act on him. If he hadn't lived the past few days with her and with his growing fear, he would still be trying to convince himself that this was an act.

Casey remembered one time he had thought that his greatest fear would be Tom killing Jessica.

He was wrong.

It was this. This was his greatest fear, staring him in the face, so massive he hadn't accepted it until this very moment.

Jessica grabbed a hold of his shoulders. Casey didn't even try to get loose. He knew his only chance to keep his sister was to not break a physical bond with her.

"Jessica, this isn't you," Casey said slowly, his voice steady and strong despite the fear pounding his heart. "Tom won't protect us. Once we're in and he's sure of it, Uncle Danny's dead. Lily's dead. James's dead. They're all dead."

"He said I can kill Sirius. That will be my first official murder."

Casey wasn't sure he just heard that right. She sounded…happy about it.

Casey had almost died twice at his own father's hands. Casey had watched his mother die slowly while he could do nothing about it. Casey had been beat on a regular basis. Casey had watched his own sister want to hand over her life to a life of living with Dementors until she drove herself completely crazy. But Casey was sure he had never felt what he was feeling right now.

There was an icy cold fear that was freezing his blood, his veins, his heart…his body. And there was a desperation that was screaming in his mind, loud and high-pitched enough that he thought dogs could hear it. It was drowning out his own thoughts.

Jessica was staring at him, her eyes hazel, her mouth grinning, and the most relaxed he had ever seen her in his whole life.

Casey knew that he had to get a hold of himself. Her entire life, Jessica had done everything she knew to save his life, even when he hadn't needed it. She wanted to give _him_ a chance at a life beyond Voldemort. A life beyond their fate, their destiny to protect a building they otherwise wouldn't care about.

Casey took a deep breath. It wasn't until this moment that he realized that while he had wanted Jessica to let _him_ take care of her for once, now that the chance was here… His entire life he had been the one she had leaned on while protecting him. As long as she thought she was protecting him – even if the roles were actually reversed – life was alright. It was as it had always been. But this time, the roles were more than reversed. Jessica wasn't the alone she claimed in her own mind anymore. She was _actually_ alone. She stood on one side, and Casey stood on the other.

Casey knew that Tom was near. He was always near, ready to leap on them.

Tom fought this battle with Jessica. Always with Jessica. But now Jessica was the pawn.

And it was Casey's turn to be the chess player.

Casey entwined his arms with Jessica and gripped her shoulders. His grip was tight enough to make her wince, but he wasn't about to let go.

"Jessica, Tom murdered our mom. He tied her to a table and tortured her to death and made us watch. Dad only soaked your shirt in Mama's blood at Tom's urging, and it was Tom's idea to make you lie there while it lay on your face."

"That was a mistake. Tom said so."

Casey swallowed the lump of fearful desperation that tried to climb his throat.

"Jessica, when you were six years old, Tom made you watch while first Dad then he raped Mom. He told you when Mom was done and when she was gone, you were going to take her place. He will rape you." Casey's voice was slow, each word precisely pronounced and booked no room for interruption.

"Tom lies. He promised you and me that Mama would be alright, but he killed her. He murdered her. And he didn't do it nicely. He gave her the Cruciatus Curse. We watched it."

Jessica shook her head. "Tom wouldn't rape me. And Mom wanted them to have sex with her. Tom told me."

Casey fought to control himself. He didn't know what to do. How could he convince her…how could he find Jessica in this mess Tom had created…

"Jessica, I know you don't like Sirius, but could you murder him? Could you actually murder him? What did he do to you?"

"He annoys me," Jessica said, a bit angrily. "That's why I would murder him."

"Jessica!" Casey was angry and almost let go of her shoulders but caught himself just in time. His fingers were biting into her shoulders, and she struggled against him, but he didn't let go.

"You hated yourself after you murdered Father, and you did that to save a life!"  
"Tom told me that was your fault! Dad was a good man!"  
Casey acted without thought. His hands grabbed Jessica's face and pressed her forehead to his. In a last ditch effort, Casey did the one thing he never wanted to do again in his life. In his vivid, photographic memory, Casey relived his worst memories, going through each detail, even the absolute worst parts. The whole time, he tapped into his and his sister's mental connection and made sure she saw what he was reliving, praying that she couldn't or wouldn't break the connection.

Rapes, beatings, forcing Mom to beg on her hands and knees, making her do things that, to this day, Casey still didn't understand. Tom doing the same things as Father, forcing Mom to do even worse things. Tom's pushing Dad to do things, directing his every movement like he was a puppeteer and Dad was his best puppet.

And then they reached the torture before Mom's death. Every moment. Every single moment. There was more than the bloody t-shirt. There was a part that Casey knew Jessica had forgotten, had forgotten on purpose. Tom instructed Dad to put a wand to Casey, randomly calling the Killing Curse and missing, randomly calling the Cruciatus Curse and not missing. Jessica screamed and screamed for them to stop – Tom to stop doing it to Mom, and Dad to stop doing it to Casey. Her screams were topped by Mom's screaming and occasionally by Casey's humming to drown out the scene. And Tom told Jessica there was only one way that her brother was going to survive this encounter. If she finished off Mom. Tom held her, having her hold his wand, instructing her how to do it, his lips close to her ear, randomly placing kisses there. Jessica screaming and bawling, Casey screaming and bawling, blood everywhere, hurting so bad he thought he was going to die. And Mom was screaming too, but her screams were silenced now, silenced by the very magic that defined their existence. Jessica screamed the curse once, and the curse flew out.

And Mom was dead. And it was Tom's fault. And Jessica's promises to Mom's dead body as the two had sat alone in Mom's lab.

"I will never join him," Jessica whispered, her voice as harsh now as it was on the dead she had made the promise to Mom's body.

Casey blinked his eyes open. His face was wet from tears he hadn't realized he had been shedding. He pulled his head a fraction from Jessica's to look her straight in the eyes, but her eyes were closed. Her face was wet too.

"I'm tired," she whispered after a second. She was still crying, and her eyes were still closed.

Casey nodded. "I know," he whispered back.

"Why did I forget?"

"Because you're tired. You forget why because you're tired. We're going to Molly's tomorrow. Then Hogwarts afterward. We'll have fun this year, even with everyone in Slytherin. And then at Christmas, we're going back to Uncle Danny. And a break. Even with Maria, it's a break. It's Uncle Danny and Riley and Andorra."

"And then we start again," Jessica said on a sigh, her eyes still closed. "It gets harder each time."

"Only because he's putting a lot more pressure on each time. Just think, each time, we get better at beating it."

"Casey, I want to be 13."

"And I want to be 12. But we were never meant to be 13 and 12. We are the Mighty Blood and the brother of the Mighty Blood. We'll get our dues later. After we kill Tom Marvolo Riddle and Lord Voldemort."

"You are more adventurous than I thought, young Casey."

Casey spun to see Tom enter the room.

The man smiled at him. "I always thought that Jeffery was underestimating you, and I was right. Jessica, may I talk to your brother alone?"  
Before Jessica could answer, Casey held up a hand. "It'll be fine, Jess. Go."

Jessica looked at her brother for a moment before starting out the door. She stopped though by Tom and looked at him. She didn't say anything and neither did he. She left.

Tom smiled at Casey. "You were right about one thing, Mr. Ziners. I will keep trying harder." Tom walked up and kneeled to Casey's height. He put his hands on Casey's shoulders and then pressed their faces together so that their noses touched.

"There are two sides coming up in the war."

"My side or death," Casey responded, finishing the quote. It was something that Grindelwald had been quoted as saying in The Daily Prophet and now stood in many a book on the subjects of Dark Arts and Grindelwald.

His hands tightened on Casey's shoulders so much that the boy couldn't hide his wince. "You are only alive because of your sister. Don't forget that."

When Casey didn't respond, Tom smiled and let go of Casey's shoulders.

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The next day, Jessica and Casey ate breakfast alone. Afterwards, they were greeted in the foyer by their luggage and by Tom. He stood tall and looming, his arms crossed.

"The house elves informed me that you liked the pajamas, Jessica, so I had them included in your luggage," he said, his voice low.

"Thank you," Jessica said quietly.

"Will you be taking us to Molly's?" Casey asked.

Tom nodded. "Yes. Molly would probably hunt me down otherwise." His voice was slightly humored, and, for a moment, it was like it had been the day before, but this time, Jessica was wary. Not angry but wary. She just wanted to leave. The sooner to the safety of the Weasleys the better.

"Shall we depart?" Tom asked in the next second as though he hadn't noticed any relapse into a previous relationship, making Jessica curious as to whether any of it had actually been sincere on his part.

Both children nodded.

After Tom sent their luggage off to the Burrow, the three left his nice house. It took about thirty minutes to arrive to the dilapidated home that was such a contrast to their recent lodgings.

After Tom knocked, Molly opened the door, her whole body ready and tense. Jessica could see Arthur inside, his wand in his hand in what was suppose to be at a natural position. For half a second, Jessica wondered if they could possibly know the man at their door, but she knew that they didn't. They just passingly wondered if he had possessed the same allegiances their father had, following this Grindelwald hopeful that went by the name Voldemort. They had no idea that that man stood at their doorstep, and that he would put Grindelwald far in his own shadow.

"Hello, Molly," Tom said. "Arthur." Mr. Weasley nodded his head politely. It was Tom's smile that made Jessica realize something. It was a Friday. Why wasn't Mr. Weasley at work? "Have the day off?" Tom asked, putting Jessica's thoughts into words.

Arthur nodded. "Thought I'd take the day off to spend with the kids because of what happened."

Tom smiled, pleased with what he thought was an effective lie on Arthur's part. "Good idea." He turned to Molly. "Well, I better go now that I've got the children in your capable hands, Molly." He grinned at Mrs. Weasley, who gave a tentative smile back.

Once Jessica and Casey were safely in the Weasley kitchen, Molly looked them over as though she wondered if they were about to sprout tentacles.

"You look well-fed," she murmured. "And without bruises."

"We're okay, Molly," Casey said with a laugh.

"Now that we're here, we're okay," Jessica added, with a smile.

Suddenly, Casey's nose twitched in a gesture of smelling. "Is that lunch?" he asked hopefully.

Molly and Arthur both chuckled, settling the kids at the table. Though it hadn't been lunch, Molly fixed them with quick snack.

By the time they left for Diagon Alley that afternoon, both kids were smiling easily, and Molly was very glad at something their enigmatic, odd, and frightening godfather had done – he had given them over to Molly and Arthur for a short bit before they returned to school, which was a whole different battle, one that included classes and homework and the beginnings of puberty.

To be continued…


	16. Return to Hogwarts Prison

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura (codytrex –at– charter –dot– net)

**Chapter 16: Return to Hogwarts Prison**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author's Note:** My feeble attempts at speaking the metric system – when I mention 38 Kilograms, I'm meaning 85 pounds.

The size of Dumbledore's family – I don't know if I referred to this before in my fan fiction. What I say about the size of his family is purely my own story and has pretty much no basis at all in the books, so, yes, I know that it doesn't say anything in the books about it.

Tom's view on Dumbledore and Hogwarts – don't worry. This is not changing from the canon. I have always viewed Tom as someone who wouldn't readily admit his fears however, especially to his followers.

Website (for the Master Character List, among other things):

www –dot– geocities –dot– com –backslash­– bch035

Live Journal (for updates and questions, etc):

www –dot– livejournal –dot– com –backslash– users –backslash– bch035 –backslash–

**Characters:**

**Celerina McPherson (mc):** Another old friend of Gary's. She is living on her inheritance.

**Francis Torys (mc):** The current professor of Divination. A young black woman about the age of thirty, she keeps to herself at school. She comes from a long line of Seers, but she is not the fruit Trelawny is.

**Greg Longbottom (mc):** Frank and Brice's little brother; he's a First Year.

**Henry Kurchiff (mc):** An old friend of Gary's. He is currently an Auror for the Ministry of Magic, specifically working in the Investigative Division.

**Spells:**

**Multiplication Reverse Spell:** a spell of my own creation. When you read it in the story, I think you'll get what it does.

**Timeline:** Beginning of the Third Year at Hogwarts for Lily, Jessica, James, Severus, etc. It is the beginning of the Second Year for Casey, Jim Jones, Sarah Black, etc.

**Quote:**

"Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead."

Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875)

Lily smiled at the train. She had missed it fiercely over the summer. Suddenly, she heard a noise followed by a low curse. She looked over at the entrance of Platform 9 ¾ to see Jessica looking back at her brother as he pulled himself up. A man with red hair picked up Casey's luggage as a woman with red hair was admonishing the boy for his language.

When Jessica turned, Lily noticed that she was grinning at her brother, saying something and laughing when he said something probably unpleasant back.

"Hey, Lily," Alice said, startling Lily.

"Hi, Alice. How was your summer?"

"Great. I got a new robe." Suddenly, Alice stopped though. Her eyes were on the siblings walking in front of them now – Jessica and Casey. They had left their redheaded guardians and were heading towards a group of Slytherins.

"I heard they got off," Alice said, a little contempt in her voice.

Lily nodded silently. She still couldn't believe what everyone thought of Jessica. They said so many stupid things about her that Lily knew weren't true. Jessica's father had been the bankroller of this Voldemort, and Jessica was one of his biggest cronies, they claimed. Then they would say that Jessica was being personally tutored by Voldemort – that's why she got the best grades – and that she was his favorite of all the children.

But that wasn't the Jessica Lily knew. Even though Lily had not expected that Jessica would have killed her own father, in a way, it didn't surprise her. But if Jessica knew who Voldemort was, she would say something. From what Lily had heard, Jessica knew James and his father reasonably well. Jessica could have said something already to Mr. Potter. And Jessica would have, if she knew anything.

"I believe that their mother was murdered," Alice added. "But I'm not sure that they are entirely innocent."

"No one's truly innocent if you think about it," Lily responded.

"Truer words have never been spoken."

Both girls turned to see Remus Lupin walk up to them.

"Hey, Remus," Lily greeted. "How was your summer?"

"It was pleasant," he responded diplomatically. "I spent much of it either at the Blacks or at the Potters."

"At the Blacks and the Potters? And it was pleasant?" Lily chuckled. "You're being nice, I'm sure."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," came some deadpan laughter from Lily's left.

"That was so funny, Evans, that I might split my side from laughing," Sirius Black said, walking up with James Potter, who's laughter had been anything but humored.

"I know. I am funny, aren't I?" Lily asked with a grin.

Suddenly, a loud boom sounded next to the Gryffindor's feet. They all jumped and then looked over to see the Slytherins laughing at them, including Jessica. Rodolophus and Bellatrix were particularly humored, giving away that it had been one of those two that had thrown the loud sounding object at them.

"Hey!"

Both groups looked to see Jeff Rin walking up to the Slytherin group, a shiny Head Boy badge on his robes. The Slytherins quieted but didn't look too happy about it. Jeff, however, still headed towards them. He said something, and Jessica went over to him. The two took off a short ways down the platform.

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"Are you alright?"

Jessica nodded.

"You sure?"

She finally looked at Jeff. A smile still on her face but her voice not conveying any happiness, she said, "You've got to be careful of that question, Jeff."

Finally, his frown still on his face, he nodded. "But that's not the real question I had for you. I wanted to talk to you about Quidditch."

Jessica paused before whispering, "It's about my performance during the last half of last season, isn't it? I'm surprised that it's taken you this long to kick me off the team."

Jeff snorted in amusement. "I'm not going to kick you off the team. Yet. I understood the problem during the last half of last season. But I wanted to know if you think you're going to improve."

She nodded. "I will. Now that Azkaban's not over my head, I'll be able to concentrate."

Jeff nodded, satisfied. "Good. Evans is getting better. I don't want to lose that cup again, especially since it's my last year."

She grinned. "No problem, Captain."

He laughed.

Jessica started to turn away from Jeff, Jeff doing likewise the other way, but Jessica stopped herself and stopped Jeff with his name. He turned to her silently.

"How do you like the new Minister?"

"The pompous ass stopped over at my house after he was announced in the papers. He's an idiot. How do you like him?"

Jessica paused at the look on Jeff's face. She realized what he was really asking. She sighed, "I don't know yet." He nodded and took off.

After separating from Jeff, Jessica started back towards the group she had been hanging out with. It was then that she saw that Salazar Snape had approached the group. Where was Severus?

"You looking for Severus?"

Jessica looked over to see Jim Jones by a pole. She nodded. He motioned for her to come closer. Curious but grinning, Jessica moved over to the little blonde Second Year.

"According to my sources, he's incapable of walking. His mum gave him a potion. Having problems reversing it. My mum was called in to assist."

"Mrs. Snape asked for help?" Jessica asked in surprise.

Jim snorted. "No. Mas…Si…" Jim glanced around nervously before settling on, "You-Know-Who did. As you probably know, he took a special interest in Severus when you did."

She sighed. "How bad is he?"

"He'll live, I'm sure. Whether or not he'll live as a walking wizard is the real question."

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James Potter noticed Jessica Ziners walk in, trailing behind her brother and his friends. A quick glance over the Slytherins explained why. Severus Snape was nowhere in sight.

"Snape's missing," James told Sirius.

Sirius laughed. "Good."

"I wonder why," Remus replied, having overheard James.

"Probably off following his psycho mother," Sirius answered.

James chuckled. "Probably."

"Frank," Remus said, ignoring James and catching Frank's attention. "Do you have another brother as a First Year this year?"

Frank laughed. "I will have a brother as a First Year during our entire schooling here."

Remus gave him a surprised look.

"I have seven brothers, Remus," he said with a grin, causing both Alice Bolmond and Kelly Brier to comment on Mrs. Longbottom's personality.

Sure enough, a 'Greg Longbottom' was called and put into Gryffindor.

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"Where are you going?" Narcissa asked.

"I've got to ask Professor Rum a question," Jessica murmured. She tapped on his office door loudly.

"Come in!" he called.

Jessica pushed opened the door, and it shut in Narcissa's face.

"Professor Rum, Sir, I have a problem."

Rum gestured towards the visitor's chair across from his desk before going to the chair behind his desk.

"What is it, Miss Ziners?"

"Severus didn't show up today."

Rum nodded. "Yes, I know. His mother sent a note that he was too sick. He would come when he was well enough."

Jessica nodded nervously towards her hands. "Yeah, it's about that." She looked back up at him. "Another student spoke to me about it. This student has heard another story that has me worried. He says that Severus cannot actually walk. And I know that his mother won't care either way. She won't care if he ever comes back here, Sir. Walking or sick, he isn't ever coming back if Mrs. Snape has anything to say about it, Sir." And briefly and guardedly, she told Rum about what Jim had told her.

Professor Rum nodded thoughtfully. After a minute of silence, he decided. "Don't worry about it, Miss Ziners. I'll take care of it."

Satisfied that if Professor Rum said he would take care of something that he would, Jessica got up and left.

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It was the first weekend of school, early Saturday morning to be precise, when the Potions Master would see to the situation.

"If you had told me last night that, this morning, I would receive an owl from Gary Rum, I would have laughed in your face. But, sure enough, this morning, I wake up and start my breakfast, only to get visited by the ugliest owl known to mankind. What on earth is that thing, Gary? A rat with wings?"

"Hello, Henry," the newcomer was greeted.

"Hello, Celerina," Henry responded before looking around the Potions classroom expectantly. "I imagine Vince is here somewhere as well."

"Right behind you," Vince muttered, looking at a parchment in his hands. "You're right. George McGiven."

Gary, who was leaning against the front of his desk and had been conversing with Celerina before Henry's entrance, nodded. "I didn't really doubt as such," he said, causing three of the former friends to smile. To Celerina and Henry, Gary asked, "Have either of you heard of Rebella Snape?"

Henry nodded. "Oh, yeah. She's been investigated four times by the Ministry, the last two done by myself. She's gotten off each time without a nick or dent to her name or her Potion's license."

Gary sighed. "She has a son that attends here. Both of her sons attend here actually, but it's the older one that concerns me. Another student informed me that Severus' health is in question."

"Can we trust this student?" Celerina asked.

"Yeah, the student could be trying to set a trap. I can see Snape wanting to set you up," Henry added.

"The student was Jessica Ziners," Vince responded before Gary had a chance to.

"That kid that was put on trial for murder this summer?" Henry asked in surprise.

"How does she know that this Snape child is in trouble?" Celerina inquired calmly.

"She has a source," Vince replied.

"What kind of child has sources?" Henry asked incredulously.

"Think Gary Rum at 12," Vince said with a grin.

Gary fairly rolled his eyes. "Now that we have that over with, we need to help this boy. I believe that his mother tries her new potions on him, but I have no evidence and Severus refuses to speak on that matter.

"According to Miss Ziners' source, Severus' legs have been rendered immobile for a number of days now. Another master of Potions was called in apparently and neither has been able to reverse the effects of the potion.

"I had Vince check on Rebella Snape's Apprenticeship Papers. Her Master was George McGiven."

"That putz that was always striving for your place with Allan?" Henry spoke of Allan Grindelwald. McGiven had always tried to outdo Gary, but, though gifted, Gary could out-do the man in his sleep.

"Yes, that's the fellow. I know his work well, so I will know Rebella's reasonably well also.

"We need to go to Snape's to take care of Severus, because I feel that Rebella won't care whether or not her son lives, let alone whether or not he ever walks again."

No one pointed out that Gary actually cared. They were honored he called on them for help, so honored that they weren't about to spoil it.

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Henry Kurchiff was the youngest in the group that arrived at the Snape's home an hour later. At 5'5", he was also the shortest. With his brown hair now streaked with gray, soft brown eyes, and the bearing of an heir – which he was – Henry was an attractive man. However, like his friends, he wasn't married and any attempts at a walk down the aisle had failed miserably. Currently, Henry worked as an Auror in the Investigation Division at the Ministry of Magic.

Celerina McPherson was a Countess and an heiress. She wasn't beautiful but rather had a classic look, with an elegant long face, long black hair, and equally dark eyes. Though she lived off her inheritance and held no day-to-day job, she patrolled the upper crust of magic society better than an Auror. Being soft-spoken and close to no one, she was greatly underestimated and thus very valuable as an anonymous source to the Aurors, known to no one by name as the source they valued so and only assumed to be such by the three with her at the moment.

Vince, Henry, Celerina, and Gary were, on the surface, an unlikely group of allies this day, but, long ago, they had been bonded by an unlikely event – unlikely in both the action and that it was they who had made the action. They had all turned against their families and said, 'No.' They had turned against Allan Grindelwald that day, signing their death warrants, as Gary had once said. They had survived, but it was up for debate if it had been all for the better.

The significance of today was lost to none of them. They had all heard the name Voldemort – both professionally and personally – and his actions were becoming familiar, eerily so, to all of them. Knowing of the suspected connection of Voldemort to this Ziners girl and then adding her worry over the Snape boy, they were able to do the math.

Gary looked at Vince as the boy unconsciously rubbed at his back, and Gary prayed. He prayed that, today, they were saving a kindred spirit rather than a lost one.

Gary lifted the raven shaped knocker, hearing it sound as he dropped it. Only he and Vince stood at the doorway. Henry and Celerina stood a distance away, visible and watching. Gary wanted Rebella to know they were there. And that they were ready.

A house elf opened the door but did not admit them to the house. Interested and amused, Gary said, "I would like to see the lady of the house, Rebella Snape."

"Do you has an appointment, Sir?" the house elf asked in a dull voice.

A dozen answers to that question zoomed through Gary's brain but deciding to take a chance on the fact that house elves of the old aristocratic families gossiped, Gary replied, "No, but I'm sure your Mistress will not want to miss me. I am Gary Rum."

And, like a charm, the eyes of the house elf lit up in startlement. Rebella Snape walked up to the door then, and, although he hadn't been expecting it, it didn't altogether surprise Gary.

"Well, Professor Rum, this is a pleasant surprise." The ugly woman gave what he guessed to be a smile.

"Let's not even start the nonsensical chit-chat, Mrs. Snape. I'm here for Severus."

She looked hesitant, causing both Gary and Vince to grip their wands tighter, making the wooden objects more visible than they had been. Knowing that it was unintelligent to go against two very able-bodied wizards, Rebella backed off. "I don't understand why he did what he did. He might have been trying to kill himself."

Gary took no notice of Vince's noise of disbelief and followed Rebella up a wide staircase, ignoring the dull-lighted scenery of the foyer. Vince followed a step behind. They had to travel two more staircases before going down a hall to a dark, out of the way room. She didn't bother to knock, just slammed the door open.

"Severus!" she yelled in a shrill voice.

The lump in the bed moved but didn't reveal itself. Gary turned to glance at Vince only to see him just enter the room. He watched him slip a note into one of his robe pockets. The action was so obvious that Gary knew it was for his benefit. The old friends made eye contact.

"Severus," Rebella sighed angrily and impatiently, causing Gary to turn back to her. She threw the covers back to reveal a black pajama covered lump in the middle of the bed. The lump grunted.

As Gary moved toward the bed, he spoke to Rebella again. "What did he swallow?" He would allow her fabrication for the time being.

At his voice, Severus stirred but didn't reveal his face.

"I don't know," she said.

Gary turned a glare on her. She was set stubbornly by her story, and Gary was just about to argue when he saw Vince shake his head. He patted the pocket he had slipped the note in.

Silently, Gary turned back to the bed. Without thought, he reached over and picked up Severus. Now, a Potions Master has a strong upper body – built up from years of stirring and lifting – but he still expected to stagger from the weight of a growing boy.

Gary did indeed stagger but not from the weight. He staggered from the lack of it. Severus couldn't weigh more than 38 kilograms.

The boy stirred but did not awake. Gary turned and left. When Gary and Vince were away from the house, Vince whispered:

"A house elf slipped me a list of the ingredients. The elf said that 'Master Severus' asked her to steal it for him this morning, saying that he was going to attempt to heal himself. When she got back, the boy was unconscious. I got the impression that she didn't think that that was a coincidence.

"When she heard that it was you here for her 'Master', she knew that you would help him and thought that this list could help you."

Gary thought about that, ignoring the looks of surprise from Celerina and Henry when they saw him carrying the boy.

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Severus' head hurt. His first thought beyond the pain was that he had to be in Hell because there would be no pain in Heaven.

His suspicion that he was in Hell was confirmed in the next minute when he finally managed to open his eyes and focus on something. Professor Rum stood above him. He wondered what had killed the professor.

"Severus," Rum said quietly.

"What?" Severus replied his throat sore.

"I'll get him some water," said another voice, this one a female.

Noticing Severus' eyes moving around, Rum said, "You're in a Bed & Breakfast a few miles from your home. It's the first Saturday after the start of the school year."

"I'm not in Hell?"

Severus heard a snort and tried to unsuccessfully find the source.

"No, my boy, you are in Hell, but if you're wondering if you're dead, you are not."

"Severus," this voice was Rum's, "the voice you heard before me was that of Henry, an old mate of mine. The woman getting you water is Celerina, another old mate, along with Vince, who is over in the corner and remaining unusually silent."

"I'm not dead?" Severus asked again, his eyes catching a spot on the ceiling as he felt his voice catch.

His tone carrying his normal detached sternness, Gary replied, "You are alive, Severus. Very alive. And if I'm as good at potions as I think I am, you will walk again very soon."

This caused Severus' dark eyes to shoot back to Rum's. The older man actually gave Severus a slight smile.

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"Clay McAdamson."

"He was an Unspeakable. Nice fellow. In charge of the Dark Arts Department."

"That's why he was killed," Professor Rum murmured as he continued to mix the potion on the table.

"Knocking off the competition?" Henry asked.

"He is learning from Grindelwald's mistakes," Celerina murmured to her book.

Severus continued to listen to their conversation avidly as Professor Rum mixed another potion for him. Vince, who, Severus had already gleaned, was a lawyer, was currently reading _The Daily Prophet_. Henry, who worked for the Ministry but Severus couldn't figure out how, was playing with various things, alternately charming and transfiguring mundane objects to amuse himself. Celerina, who Severus was under the impression held no job, was reading a novel.

Currently, Vince was telling them about a recent murder he was reading about in the paper.

"Do you think it was this Voldemort character?" Henry asked Gary.

"I think neither this nor that," Gary replied.

"And we shall interpret that as a 'yes', but with an added, 'but I'm going to try my damnedest to keep out of it,'" Vince replied distractedly.

"We're former Slytherins, Gary," Celerina murmured. "If we combined both my and Henry's inheritance, we couldn't buy our way out of any future war with a Voldemort or anybody. Slytherins, per supposed custom, specialize in two things."

"Darks Arts and determination," Vince and Henry said in unison, causing Severus to smile.

Gary, on the other hand, was ignoring them in favor of his potion.

Moving back to the story in the paper, Henry asked Vince, "Does it say how he died?"

Vince glanced back at the article to remind himself. "Preliminary guess is that he was poisoned."

Severus swallowed nervously then. He knew the hit had been ordered by his master, but now he knew who had done the deed – his mother. She was the only master or mistress of Potions in Lord Voldemort's arsenal who could pull off an assassination by potions on an Unspeakable, especially one who specialized in Dark Arts.

Suddenly, Severus felt eyes on him. Glancing past his feet and across the room, he saw Vince looking over the top of the paper at him. He was struck with the similarity of Vince's gaze to Casey's at that moment, the type of gaze that made you feel like they saw something inside of you that only you yourself was privy to.

"Are you alright, Severus?" Vince asked, interrupting Celerina and Henry's starting argument.

Severus nodded silently.

Vince glanced at the paper and the story again, then glanced at the potion ingredients by Gary, then to Severus once more, and, for one terrified moment, Severus thought that Vince had figured it out – Rebella Snape was a murderer, she had murdered that Unspeakable, and that Severus had kept quiet on the matter – a treason making him as guilty of the murder as his mother.

But just as Vince opened his mouth, Professor Rum spoke. "Vince, keep your nose to that side of the room, where it belongs."

Severus looked at Rum, only to see that the Potions Master's eyes had never left his work. One glance back at Vince and then at Henry and Celerina told him that the comment of Rum's referred to a past conversation that only Rum and Vince knew.

"Care to share?" Henry, who was now more interested in Vince and Gary than his mundane objects, asked.

Without taking his eyes off Gary, Vince shook his head. "No."

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Severus awoke slowly. Judging by the candle, he had been asleep awhile.

The room was mostly dark and empty except for him and another. Silent as a mouse, Severus looked beyond the candle to Professor Rum. He was still hunched over the desk, working on a potion. Currently, he was cutting up some root. Severus admired the precise work of it. Dark and defensive arts were similar in that respect. Any able-bodied witch or wizard could do a decent charm or transfiguration with some time and ease, but it took a certain smooth artist to be able to do dark or defensive magic – you had to do a certain spell at a certain time – no thought, no hesitancy. But it wasn't just that. You had to use more than just the magic. There was timing, order, intensity, consistency, movement... It was a beauty only matched in potions. Severus understood deeply what had drawn Rum to both.

He watched Rum slide the root into a flask. The flask was already carrying a liquid unknown to Severus. Putting it near the candlelight to watch the root mix with the liquid, Severus watched it as well, seeing it mix and turn to a steam. Severus knew that Professor Rum couldn't see him, so he was able to watch the potion without fear of discovery.

Without warning, Rum threw the potion. Weighted by the now heavy substance in the bottle, the flask fell to the floor and, with a loud crash, shattered, the liquid slowly following the paths of its broken container across the floor. Severus' eyes flew to Professor Rum to see him clutching the offending arm. It was moving, as though trying to get away. His shoulder was jerking violently in the struggle.

"What's wrong?"

It was Vince standing in the door adjoining two rooms. He looked to have been asleep.

"Nothing!" Professor Rum yelled. "Go away!"

The tone was pained but more threatening than Severus had ever heard from the professor. It effectively threw Vince from the room and halted any help Severus could have done. In terror, Severus watched and waited.

Groaning in terrible pain, Rum leaned forward and locked his jerking arm between his thighs and chest. Once his other arm was free, he reached down and parted the lower part of his robes. There he managed to reach up part way and pull out a metal flask. He popped the top off and drunk deep and long. When he was done, he dropped the metal flask, and it tumbled to his feet with a clank as he gasped. It was another minute before the shaking in his arm stopped and yet another half a minute before Rum started to release it from the vice of his body. Tentatively, he tested it, alternating rubbing and flexing it.

When he seemed satisfied, Rum pulled his wand and cleaned up the potion on the floor. Pocketing his wand again, he leaned forward and rubbed his face with hands.

Severus knew better than to speak at this moment, knowing that Professor Rum would not like it if he realized Severus had witnessed his agony. As Severus pretended to grumble and turn over in his sleep, he thought about the agony one received when they turned against who they were.

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Later the next day, Severus was able to walk across the room, people he met only the day before cheering him on, causing his pale cheeks to turn a bright, cherry red, as Celerina had pointed out, making the shade deepen.

That night, the group moved to Hogwarts. It was very late at night, but they were greeted by Dumbledore, Dumbledore's amusement, and Dumbledore's concern.

Severus was quickly taken under Madam Pomfrey's care, who had been waiting up for him, unlike another who had evidently been expecting him but lost the battle for wakefulness hours ago. Jessica Ziners lay curled up in a chair next to the bed that had been prepared for Severus. He sincerely doubted that if Hogwarts were to fall on her head that she would have awoken.

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"Your concern astounds even me, Gary."

Henry, Celerina, and Vince exchanged a glance as Albus Dumbledore gave voice to the earlier thoughts none had dared to speak.

"Well, it's astonishment wasted for I was not out to amaze. Severus can drink potions into oblivion for all I care. I will not let George McGiven one up me." And with that declaration, Gary left.

"Do we suspect Mr. Snape will return to normal?" Albus asked the three remaining of the group.

"Gary deemed him alright," Celerina replied. "Except probably some extended tenderness, he'll walk and run again."

"Good, good," Albus nodded.

Henry sighed. "I guess our work here is done." Looking at Celerina and Vince, he asked, "Want to catch a drink at the Three Broomsticks before we part our ways once more?"

Both nodded but Albus stopped them with a hand on Vince's arm. "Vince, may I speak with you a moment in private?"

Vince nodded at Albus before glancing at his former friends, "Go ahead. I'll catch up."

They looked uncertain but left. Vince turned to the headmaster. "Yes, Albus?" he asked when they were alone.

"It is one thing for Gary to show concern—"

Vince interrupted him, "But this was an entire other thing."

Albus nodded.

Glancing up and down the empty hall before rubbing the back of his neck, Vince hesitated a good minute before saying, "To be honest with you, Albus, I was confused at first as well. All of us were. Celerina and Henry still are, but I don't plan on shining the light for them."

"But you plan on 'shining the light' for me?" Albus guessed.

Letting go of the back of his neck and looking up, Vince gave a slight nod and half grin. "Yes, because, for the first time that I can remember, I actually believe this involves you more than them." Albus returned a small smile as the men shared a silent memory of past arguments on this topic.

"At first," Vince said, moving on, "I didn't understand, but then I understood who Severus was in the grand scheme of it all. In a way, Gary does cares about Severus, but what drove him to not only take it upon himself but upon old allies was exactly who this boy was. I believe that Severus' mother is somehow connected to this Voldemort, and that Gary's actions, in rescuing the boy and in bringing exactly whom he brought, he was sending a message to this Voldemort.

"Gary claims to not want be involved in things, but I've seen his stockpile, Albus, as I'm sure so have you. I don't think Voldemort just kind of reminds Gary of Grindelwald. Knowing that Gary sees and hears more than most and then seeing his stockpile of potions, I think Gary not only is preparing for another Grindelwald, I think he's preparing for someone worse, someone who has learned from Grindelwald's mistakes.

"By showing up on the Snape's front steps, he notified this Voldemort that Gary Rum is not dead, he's ready for battle, and that he's at Hogwarts."

Vince fell to a silence, but Albus left it to quiet, seeing that his old acquaintance was battling with his want to reveal something. Finally, he spoke. "Albus, if this Voldemort is such a threat that Gary is taking him this seriously, and if I'm right in thinking that Voldemort is specifically studying and learning from Grindelwald's mistakes, he will waste as little time as possible to go after one person…and the Minister of Magic is small beans compared to you, Albus."

Albus merely nodded.

Nervously, Vince rubbed the back of his neck again. "If I know my bad guys as well as I think I do, he'll want to make your murder as spectacular as possible, maybe making it his coming out party, so to speak."

Vince appeared confused when Albus smiled. The Headmaster explained with a comment, "I would be most appreciative if you would not talk about my death as if it was an immediate absolute certainty."

Vince frowned.

"Honestly, Vince, I will not die before or after I am meant to. I can promise you, though, that I will try my best not to let this Voldemort kill me, and, if you allow me some immodesty, my best is quite good."

The younger wizard smiled for a fraction of a second before saying gently, "You must remember something, Albus. You are the Headmaster of a school. You have over two hundred very valuable, defenseless hostages."

"There was always over two hundred very valuable, defenseless hostages as an Auror, Vince," Albus reminded him.

Vince's look was grim. "But you were never living with two hundred very valuable, defenseless hostages until the end. Now, that's how the game begins."

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"How is the investigation going on Minister Rin's assassination?" Ignatius Malfoy asked.

Marcus looked over at Malfoy with a sigh. Tomorrow was the new Minister's first day, and Marcus couldn't believe that he was actually looking forward to Landon Scooner taking office. For the past three days, Malfoy had been holding little meetings with every department, including and especially with Magical Law Enforcement. Marcus suspected that it was to wheedle as much information as possible out of everybody before he had to step down – which is when the wheedling would be overtly noticeable.

But this was hardly Malfoy's first wheedle on this topic. He had been pumping Marcus for information since the beginning of his Ministership. Marcus gave him the same response he had been giving since the beginning.

"It's progressing."

"Mr. Potter," Ignatius started out, making everyone at the table struggle not to roll their eyes, "what are we going to tell the people?"

"Fine," Marcus said, changing his answer for the first time since their little dance had began months ago on this topic. Everyone looked at Marcus in surprise. "You may tell them this – it was Voldemort."

He barely restrained laughter at Malfoy's hard look. Finally, the man spoke, his voice low and threatening, "How many times will I have to tell you –Voldemort is not a threat."

Marcus started to respond, but Barty Crouch's hand stopped him. Everyone turned in rapt fascination to Crouch.

"Minister," Crouch started out, his voice steady and calm, "the whole department is clear on your feelings of this so-called man Voldemort. I, myself, am unsure of how I stand on his existence or not, and, if he does indeed exist, I question his threat to our security. However, Marcus Potter is one of my best Aurors, not only in the field but also in investigation. If he believes that this Voldemort does indeed exist and that he maintains a serious threat, a threat enough to devote almost his entire time to stop, then I will believe in Marcus' intelligence and trust him."

"You trust him to use not only himself but your best Auror, Alastor Moody," Malfoy said, his voice barely constrained in its contempt.

Crouch nodded. "Both of them believe in what they're doing. I would trust no other Aurors to run astray as they are, but I trust in their judgment."

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"Run astray!"

"Britt, calm down," Marcus, smiling, told his wife.

"If I could, I would give that idiot a piece of my mind," she fumed.

"He was defending us," he laughed.

"But…but 'run astray'? Couldn't he have come up with something better?"

"I'm perfectly content with that," Alastor commented from his chair near the corner. Currently, the Auror was leaning back, his feet propped on Marcus' desk, reading _The Daily Prophet_. "I've been running astray for years."

"But now that you're working with Marcus on Voldemort, you're on course," Brittany Potter threw back at him.

Just as Alastor peered over the paper at her and prepared a retort, Marcus hastily spoke. "Brittany, did you talk to Gina Longbottom about McAdamson?"

Brittany gave him a dirty look. "I hate you for ordering me to talk to that woman."

Alastor looked amused. "Same old Gina, I take it?"

Marcus grinned at him before turning back to his wife. "I'm sorry, but you need to learn to talk to her. She's the Auror's best connection to the Unspeakable Department, which, as you know, is otherwise extremely secretive, more so than we are."

Brittany gave him a perturbed look but let it pass because Marcus was technically her boss. "She has a suspicion as to who poisoned McAdamson."

Alastor suddenly looked more interested in Brittany than in his paper or his previous anger at Britt.

"Who?" he growled.

"Now, she says it's a suspicion with no merit other than that she knows of her work and that more of it is appearing on the street lately and for nefarious purposes most likely, considering her specialties."

"Who is it?" Alastor demanded again.

"Rebella Snape."

"Michael Snape's wife?" This time, it was Marcus.

Brittany nodded.

Marcus groaned and leaned back, rubbing his face as he did so. "We don't need another scandal at the Ministry."

"If it's helpful," Brittany said, "Michael's marriage to Rebella was actually arranged. This incident would create no love loss, as there was no love to begin with. Michael only stays because of their two sons."

"Doesn't matter," Marcus said on a sigh. "We are already having to answer for someone getting far enough into the Ministry to kill Adam and getting back out undetected. Now we might have to deal with the wife of the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation being a bad seed herself."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I don't think we should arrest her."

Both men looked at Brittany in confused curiosity.

She shrugged. "Gina also says if there's a real bad guy out there in this Voldemort, Rebella Snape murdered McAdamson on this Voldemort's orders. Now we have a known line, possibly a direct known line, to this Voldemort. Personally, I don't want to destroy it now that we've found it."

There was a moment of silence before Alastor said, "She does have a point, Potter."

Marcus agreed. "A good point. Britt, you've just made yourself a new assignment."

Brittany groaned mockingly, causing her husband to smile fondly at her.

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"Is something wrong?" Severus asked Casey. The two boys had met up after Severus had Charms and Casey had Transfiguration. Jessica had to run up to the Owlery to send off a letter, so the boys were walking to lunch together. Currently, they were entering the Entrance Hall, but Casey kept glancing behind them.

"I think someone's following us," he murmured. And before Severus had a chance to find the culprit, it found him. Suddenly, something small with many legs was crawling inside his robes, down his back. He grabbed at his back, very aware of the laughter starting around him.

"Wand," Casey said quickly. Severus grabbed it and did the Multiplication Reverse Spell, not realizing that Casey had meant just to get rid of the spider. After muttering the curse, the two culprits – Sirius Black and James Potter – started to crazily grab at the multiple spiders running under their robes.

"Severus Snape!"

Snape cringed at the sound of McGonagall's voice. She got rid of the spiders on the other boys before ordering Snape to follow her.

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"At least it's only one detention," Jessica said.

He didn't even look up from his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me. I don't care for spiders," Jessica shivered. "Snakes either." She shivered again.

Severus turned a page.

She sighed. Turning back to her homework, she sighed again. "I hate Divination," she murmured.

"I agree," he replied, causing Jessica to struggle to hide her grin that he actually spoke again. "If one could actually predict future events," he continued, unconsciously rubbing his formerly injured ear, "one's life would be a lot less damaging."

"The only thing Divination is right about, I think, are Seers," Jessica added.

"And that may be only coincidence and conjecture when you get down to it."

"But there is no evidence either way. It may be true. It may not be."

Severus looked up, into Jessica's eyes.

She looked back down at her Divination homework.

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The next night, at the Potter home, Marcus and Brittany entertained an old friend of Marcus's. Stephen Medley wanted to get away from the school one night and had complained such to Marcus in his last letter, so Marcus invited the young man to dinner.

"You should take over my job then, Marcus," Stephen was saying. "I wouldn't mind becoming Head of Major Cases for a few weeks."

Marcus laughed. "You speak exactly like someone who's never been the Head of Major Cases!"

"Seriously, Stephen," Brittany said with a grin, "a mere two seconds in the job, or even near the job, would give you a whole new appreciation for what you do at Hogwarts."

Stephen grinned. "You speak exactly like someone who's never been on the butt end of Casey Ziners' wand."

The three laughed.

"Out of curiosity," Stephen said, changing the topic, "can I ask you a question about this Voldemort?"

Marcus nodded. "You can. Whether I will answer it or not is the question."

The professor laughed. "Well, I will give it a shot. People say that Minister Rin's death was possibly this Voldemort's coming out party, and I've been thinking about that a lot lately. But I'm starting to wonder if it is not. I think that if this Voldemort is as serious as you believe he is…if Minister Rin was his coming out party, why haven't we heard much more from him? I would think a blast would have followed Minister Rin. But it hasn't. So if this was Voldemort, it begs the question – is it wrong to believe that this was Voldemort's coming out party?

"Looking at the unsolved murders in the past few years, I'm beginning to wonder if this hasn't been Voldemort's first murder, assuming that I'm right in believing that Minister Rin was murdered by this Voldemort. So, if I'm right that Rin was not his coming out party, why was Rin murdered? There is the obvious –that he was the Minister of Magic. But, as Aurors, we know that the real good bad guys know to not take that big of risk unless the purpose far outweighs the risk. So what was the purpose if not a coming out party?

"And, if this wasn't Voldemort, why haven't we heard more from Rin's murderer?

"This has led me to wonder if that you are indeed right. This Voldemort has been here for a while, amassing contacts, resources, and followers, coming in a tidal wave that was so far away at first that we wondered if it would even reach us. After awhile, we forgot to worry about it. Only the far-sighted can see that it's still coming and it's amassing strength and power to wipe those in its path off of the map entirely. But because it's still so far away and so massive that it's blocked our view so completely and for so long we've forgotten what use to be there, we can't see it anymore, we don't worry about it anymore…" Stephen shook his head. "Minister Rin's murder wasn't a coming out party, was it? It was something so different that we have no idea what it was really trying to accomplish."

After a lengthy pause, Marcus replied quietly, "I believe that you are quite right, Stephen, except for one thing. I know nearly precisely what Rin's death was trying to accomplish."

Stephen only cocked his head in question.

"The obvious – to get Malfoy into office to snoop on our defensives. Then there was the second objective. I actually didn't realize it until you were talking just now."

Marcus paused a second, during which Brittany set a hand on his arm. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"I believe that it was a message to me. He had to have been in the front office when I left Rin's office…staring at me…knowing I was there, I would be near when he would do it. I just remembered something Malfoy said right after Jeffery Ziners was murdered – that he protected me during the initial investigation of Adam's death. And he had. But why? Voldemort ordered him not to give me a hard time. Voldemort wanted me to know that he was there, that he killed Rin, and that he did it right under my nose. He wants to fight me – not put me away. He is a tidal wave, and I can see him. That challenges him, but he's enjoying it, and he wants me to know that I am sport to him.

"I am starting to wonder if the murder of our former minister was very much for my benefit." Marcus was silent a moment, a long moment, before he spoke again. "You're right, Stephen. Voldemort is a tidal wave, and he doesn't want to surprise us when he gets here. He wants us to know he's coming, and he's getting frustrated that no one's taking him seriously. He knew I would believe it was him. So he made sport of me doing it under my nose, but he added the mark of the skull and snake this time because he wants more people to realize he's coming. Slowly but surely, stronger than any before him. _That_ was why Minister Rin was the first murder he marked; _that's_ why the Minister of Magic was chosen. Rather than purely to gain power, he wanted to prove he already had it." Marcus paused a moment before adding thoughtfully, "There will be more murders until he officially announces himself."

"The kind of wizard that can murder the minister as though it were no big deal and not use it as a coming out party," Stephen added with a note of despair and a shake of his head.

"But it begs the biggest question of all," Marcus said.

It was Stephen who supplied the question. "What kind of coming out party could surpass the murder of the Minister of Magic under the nose of the Head of Major Cases and the very man investigating him?"

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"These cases are in excellent order."

Riley looked up at the back of Elizabeth Murphy's blonde head. She was sitting in Richie Thender's desk, reading over some case files. Drea was the only Dark Operator in the office today. When she looked up to comment, Riley shushed her.

"Thank you," he said to Murphy, continuing to sort through the parchments on his desk.

Murphy never glanced behind herself and started making more notes.

Mark walked in then, in Muggle clothes – blue jeans and a black Led Zepplin t-shirt. Everyone in the office gave him a curious look.

Mark grinned. "I was in a Muggle bar, sorry."

"A Muggle bar? What ever for?" Murphy asked.

He was silent for half a second before he responded, "Sorry, Prosecutor Murphy. You have access to past cases, not our current cases."

"Why do you guys call me Prosecutor Murphy?" Murphy finally turned her green eyes to Riley. Some part of Riley had noted the color of her eyes and the fact that they were actually quite beautiful, but the part of Riley that had kept him alive this long told that other part to shut up and get back to work.

"Would you rather we call you the names that we called you before Prosecutor Murphy?" Riley asked, his eyes back on one of the parchments on his desk. "Drea," he picked up the paper, "this is one of your cases." He handed her the parchment.

"One of her cases?" Murphy asked, apparently letting Riley's question roll off her back. "I thought that Captain Montgomery was the head of all the cases."

"Technically," Riley replied, "but he gives the lead and organization to some of the other members, usually the more senior ones, on some of the more minor cases, though Danny maintains seniority on all of the cases."

"Can anyone outrank him on a decision?" Elizabeth asked.

"If someone feels that he is doing something wrong, they can inform the Supervisory Squad, who will call a meeting to discuss the case in question. The one who talked will never be known to anyone but the person on the Supervisory Squad they talked to. However, there doesn't necessarily need to be someone on the team to ask for a meeting, or someone at all."

Murphy nodded and turned back to her notes.

"What are you doing here today, Mark?" Riley asked, looking over at him.

"Actually I came today because I have to talk with Dan…" Mark glanced over at Murphy cautiously before amending, "…because I have to talk with Captain Montgomery."

Riley nodded back at his papers. "He's home today, opening up Jeffery Ziners' study. Miss Dumbledore went over there about five minutes ago for her lunch break. She's going to be there with him when he opens it."

"Well, Miss Dumbledore should probably hear this too," Mark said before leaving.

"Why didn't he inform his Commander of his news?" Murphy asked, her back still to Riley.

Glancing at her back, Riley said, "Because you're here, Prosecutor Murphy. He won't speak a word in front of you."

Murphy didn't respond.

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"Sir?"

Daniel turned to the house elf. "Yes, Malf?"

"There is a man here for you, Sir, a Mark Halmer. He says it be rather important, Sir, and that it requires both yours and Miss Dumbledore's presences," Malf said slowly.

"Send him in, to the library," Daniel instructed.

When the house elf walked away, Daniel cast one last look to the door of Jeffery's study.

"We could make him wait," Andorra supplied.

Daniel shook his head. "No, it's important."

Mark was already seated in the library when they arrived, comfortable with the room. Daniel had been using the library as a nightly meeting room for the Dark Operators so he didn't need to go to the Department itself and leave the kids alone, not that he was much with them in the large house, but the proximity made him feel better.

"Were you at the Muggle bar in New York City this morning?" Daniel asked, noticing Mark's attire.

He nodded, propping his feet on a nearby coffee table. "Yeah, and I heard some interesting things."

Daniel grinned, sitting on the couch. Andorra sat down on the chair next to the couch.

"The U.S. might be rid of Voldemort overall. They were speaking of the loss of his two biggest big-wigs, one of which had a connection to the Ministry, the other of which gave him money and other access to the U.S."

"Jonathon and Jeffery," Daniel supplied.

Mark nodded. "That's what it sounded like. But with good news comes bad news." Daniel's smile became a frown. "Voldemort's not completely out of the U.S. They hinted that he had his claws still here, but he won't focus on it in his overall attack, which will be in England. They said that that was where his bigger prizes were, and when he had them, he would head over to the U.S., then country after country, they suspected."

"He's gone, but we shouldn't forget him here at the Department," Andorra supplied.

Mark nodded.

"And his presence here is in the form of someone at the Department is my guess," Daniel said with a sigh.

There was a pause before Andorra asked, "Do you think it could be Elizabeth Murphy?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, I don't. Annoying though she is, she's here only for the reason Melovic has her here. No, Voldemort would have put this claw in during Jonathon and Jeffery's reign so as not to have that many questions and better access to the employees of the Department."

"So it could be anyone," Andorra said.

"It always can be anyone," Mark replied. "We just have to pick a group to trust and work on it from there."

"That's why I have the Dark Operators," Daniel said, giving Andorra a half smile.

"And you can always trust a Dark Operator," Mark said with a laugh.

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"Albus Dumbledore will be his greatest achievement," Ignatius said with a grin.

_Idiot_, Tom thought to himself before announcing his presence. As expected, they bowed and welcomed him with open arms. Tom wondered how many truly loved him and how many truly loved the power he promised. But, in the end, was there really a difference, he wondered. A thought to ponder later.

"Albus Dumbledore," Tom told Ignatius before he started their meeting, "will not be a very great achievement. He will be an amusing one, like our friend Marcus Potter." There were some chuckles. Tom sneered. "But, when I achieve Dumbledore, I will achieve another thing, a great thing."

"What is that, Master?" Randolph Lestrange asked.

Tom smiled. "A beautiful thing," he whispered, his voice caressing the words reverently. "It will be Hogwarts, which shall make for an excellent base of operations."

Some of the smiles were surprised but most had the grace not to be.

Tom chuckled. "But that won't be for some time now, for, as they say, good things only come to those who wait, plan, and scheme the murder of their enemies first. Speaking of which, we have some business to attend to, do we not?"

Tom took close note of those who looked excited at the prospect, knowing that, in the end, those would be his best and most fervent supporters.

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Stephen Medley nearly ran into Francis Torys on his way out of the teacher's lounge.

"You missed the teacher's meeting," Stephen informed her.

She gave a dramatic sigh. "Drat."

Stephen smiled. "Don't worry. It wasn't all that exciting."

"Get out of my way," Gary Rum growled, pushing at Stephen a bit. Stephen got out of the way, giving Gary a glare at his back. Like usual, Professor Torys gave him a slight smile. Stephen looked back at her. Torys was a young black woman about the age of thirty, and she usually kept to herself. She was very serious about her subject; coming from a long line of Seers, no one was surprised. Whether or not you believed in Divination, you knew that claimed Seers were very serious about their subject and took it as a personal insult if you said her subject was anything other than serious. But she needn't tell Stephen anything twice about Divination. He was a personal believer, having been saved a few times himself by the use of Divination.

"You should not be angry with him," Torys said.

"I'm not angry. Just irritated."

She didn't reply, just merely grinned back at the dungeon doors, where Rum had disappeared.

Stephen finally bit. "Why do you like him so? He's not any nicer to you than he is to anyone else."

She turned back to him like she hadn't understood what he had said, but after half a second, she replied, "Like myself, Professor Rum comes from a long line of Seers."

Stephen's jaw dropped. "Rum's a Seer?"

Torys nodded. "It was he that made the prophecy that foretold the end of Grindelwald, exactly as it happened, and he made the prophecy when he was only 17-years old. There is suspicion that he made another prophecy, earlier on, that no one but he and only a few others know about. But Professor Rum denies it."

Stephen could not have been more surprised. Rum was a Seer? He had made the prophecy that had spoke of many attempts of killing Grindelwald, including an attempt made by a great vengeful enemy, but all would fail until finally the eldest son of a large family, a great Auror of great, silent strength, faced Grindelwald head-on in one great, final battle. Rum himself had been the great vengeful enemy, and Professor Dumbledore, the eldest of 17 children, had faced Grindelwald head-on in one great battle that had ended Grindelwald's reign of terror.

And there was another prophecy out there that Rum refused to speak on?

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"She's pretty."

Riley Haderson glared at Marcus Potter. Both Marcus and Daniel started laughing at the glare.

"Well, she is," Daniel said.

"She's a real pain in the ass," Riley replied. "The Supervisory Squad asks us less questions."

"That's their purpose," Daniel said. "To keep us in line but to keep out of our business. Her job is to try to push us to the line and to stick her nose in our business."

"And here I go again at that mission, Captain Montgomery," Elizabeth Murphy said, walking up and surprising the three. "Mr. Potter, why are you here?"

Riley went to say something but stopped when Daniel held up a hand. Marcus grinned. "I am here because I am here. You only have access to the American Camp, Miss Murphy. Not the British Camp."

She held up her nose slightly, causing Marcus to have an obvious fight to keep from laughing. "From my time here," she said, "I have heard that you and Captain Montgomery are good friends. From Miss Dumbledore, I have found that you have knowledge of this merry band of misfits I am here for. And from my own encounter with a certain lawyer, I have guessed that you have already sent someone to guess my conclusion before I even reach it.

"After Secretary Ziners was arrested and after the investigation of Jeffery Ziners' death, we have found the probability that your Volda…Vold…"

When Elizabeth paused in her haughty speech uncertainly, there came a barely suppressed snort of laughter from Riley and two barely suppressed grins from Daniel and Marcus.

"Voldemort, Miss Murphy," Marcus supplied, his voice deadpan.

"Voldemort," she repeated, glaring at Riley, before continuing strongly to Marcus. "That your Voldemort fellow has been infiltrating in the U.S. You are one of the most major connections we have with the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Potter."

"So, from your speech, am I to understand that I am a spy for Voldemort?"

Elizabeth glared at both Daniel and Riley as the laughter finally broke through.

"Well," Elizabeth said, turning back to Marcus. "I am not expecting you to tell me the truth either way, but I have full authority to investigate every aspect of…" she nodded towards Daniel and Riley. "And, it seems, that may include you."

Marcus grinned. "You are very intelligent, Miss Murphy, but you would make one very atrocious Auror. You would have just signed your death warrant, had what you just said been true. It is not. Ask Vince McCallen, Secretary Melovic's own personal spotter of all things evil."

Daniel rolled his eyes, causing Marcus to grin wider.

Elizabeth gritted her teeth and walked away.

"See," Riley said before she was out of hearing range. "She's annoying."

She spun and gave him a perturbed look. And Riley did the most childish thing he had ever done in his life.

He stuck out his tongue at her.

Everyone who happened to witness it burst out laughing in surprise. Elizabeth's jaw dropped. Riley bit his lip, suddenly embarrassed. He turned and walked back to the Dark Operators' office.

Elizabeth walked back to Melovic's office.

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"I don't get it, Severus."

He grabbed the frog brains and showed her how to cut them again. "In angular strips, Jessica. Thin, angular strips."

"But the book says straight strips."

"The book's wrong. This is how my mom does it," Severus murmured quietly. Jessica quit arguing as Severus had figured she would, Jessica knew. She looked at the knife again that she had gotten him for his birthday. She had bought it when she was with Tom in Knockturn Alley, her intention being to give it to Severus but looking at it now, it reminded her of what she had nearly done just before school started. It was nearly a month and a half ago, but it still haunted her at odd times.

"You're not paying attention, Jessica," Severus pointed out.

She grinned. "Caught red-handed."

He pressed the handle of the knife into her palm again. "Now, do it just like I did."

She cut the strips, but her hand wasn't steady. Severus, who was standing right next to her, reached over and enveloped her hand in his, holding her hand steady as she cut. His hand was cold but firm and for some stupid reason, it caused her to smile. She bit her lip to cover it.

"Snivellus and Jessica, sitting in a tree…" Jessica heard across the room. She turned a glare on Sirius Black, but Rum was there.

"Black, pay attention to your own potion."

"Yeah, it needs all the attention and help it can get," Severus added, causing Jessica and the other Slytherins to snicker.

"Mr. Snape," Rum started but stopped suddenly on a gasp. He grabbed his arm as others watched in silent surprise.

Jessica glanced nervously at Severus to see that his eyes were darting. She could practically hear the wheels in his head turning. She turned back to Rum, trying to understand. And suddenly it hit her – his disability. The shaking, it was very painful from what she had overheard. What should she do?

But suddenly Severus took the decision out of her hands. He pushed over his cauldron in the guise of tripping into it. The potion spilled out at an alarming rate, steam started to rise, and the room filled with a nasty burning smell. The incident caused everyone's attention to turn to Severus and the cauldron. What was Severus thinking? Professor Rum needed help!

But Jessica couldn't do anything now. She had to get her bag and herself out of the way and several other Slytherins had to follow suit. By the time everyone was out of the way and Severus was starting to contain his mess, Professor Rum was walking over to clean up the mess with his wand. He looked pale and appeared very slightly on the shaky side, but his shaking had apparently stopped.

As the class made nasty comments to Severus and about Severus, she looked at the top of his head as he stared hard at the potion on the ground as though angry at being clumsy.

And if Jessica hadn't annoyed him with her presence the previous two years, she would have assumed it was clumsiness. But Severus wasn't clumsy.

She smiled.

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Meanwhile, in London, a man looked at his hand again. No matter what he did, the scars still remained. Scars of anger, he had once heard, deep anger, do not heal easily. He had never seen the boy so very angry. Now he realized that he had made the mistake in his positioning of the boy in Jessica's world. Before, he had been a mere tool with no real meaning. Just a tool to control Jessica. Now, he realized that the boy was standing between himself and Jessica.

Unfortunately, he couldn't kill the boy for then he would lose Jessica, and now that he knew Jessica was within in his grips more than she ever was – now that he knew that it was very possible to turn her willingly…at least, until he could perform the rest of the Submission Hex, he did not want to destroy the boy now. But he would have to think of something.

Tom put his gloves back on and sipped his tea just as Marcus Potter entered the café. Dressed in a dark cloak and a suit, Marcus managed to blend in with the Muggle crowd better than most Magic folk. As an Auror, he had taken a few lessons in Muggle customs and Muggle clothing. Smiling as he set the tea cup back on the table, Tom thought of how good it would be when the Magic folk wouldn't have to pretend to be these Muggles. It was purely disgusting that they – the stronger – had to hide amongst these filthy bloods.

"Hello, Tom," Marcus said, sitting across the table from him. They were next to the door, a positioning habit Tom had picked up recently when he was in the company of anyone that dared to question him. Tom rarely removed his gloves as of late because of the scars, so Tom sat near doors in order to have an excuse to keep his gloves on. If he were in the company of his own people, he would leave the gloves on without questions from them. At least, until he could find a suitable excuse to have extravagant scars on his hand.

Tom nodded at Marcus, looking up as a couple entered. They shivered briefly, shaking off water droplets, before speaking to the waitress that would seat them.

"Did you find Seth Jonson?"

Tom nodded again, watching the couple follow the waitress across the restaurant to be seated. The waitress was very pleasant looking, he noted.

When she turned back, Tom looked across at Marcus. He was merely looking enquiringly at Tom. He would not comment on Tom's distraction, for he was use to it by now, Tom knew. The thought caused him to struggle to suppress a grin. His 'supervisor' thought he knew his second in command so well? The thought was laughable. He gave a brief pondering to how he would kill Marcus when the time came, but Tom knew he had to move on and answer the man's question.

"He confirmed Alastor's finding on that sketch. Says that it's his calling card."

The waitress from Tom's earlier musings came up to them then, but she only had eyes for Marcus. "Can I get you something, Sir?" she said, smiling flirtatiously at him, her voice sounding like sweet honey.

Tom looked at his gloved hands for a brief, angry moment, before looking past the waitress and scanning the busy restaurant, looking at each face.

"Just tea," Marcus said, dismissively, barely looking at her.

When she left, Tom said as he looked over the restaurant crowd, "You should have asked her out. She would have gone with you."

"I learned long ago not to even look at them," Marcus replied, his voice slightly frustrated at Tom's turn of the conversation. "When you get married, you have to learn that sort of thing."

Tom glanced at him with a slight up-curling of the corner of his mouth. "That's why I'm never getting married."

"About what Jonson said, Tom," Marcus reminded.

Tom sighed. "He also said that the Dark…you know…was a present to people like you, the ones paying attention."

Marcus bit the tip of his tongue, an action he did every time he was angry about something.

"What?" Tom asked, finally giving him his full attention for the minute. "I thought you would be happy that you were right about this Voldemort. You aren't crazy. Completely crazy, anyway," Tom added with a smile.

"You were wrong then. I had wished that one of these days I would be completely crazy about this Voldemort, completely wrong about him."

"But you did find that you were right about him killing Minister Rin," Tom pointed out.

"He got into the Ministry then, Tom. How did he do that?" Marcus shook his head in frustration. "A calling card, Tom? It sounds like a taunt to me, pure and simple. A taunt aimed at me. Right under my nose. He was right there, under my nose. Probably still is somewhere." Marcus pushed himself up, ignoring the waitress and the tea that she had set in front of him. The snub caused her to stomp angrily away. Ignorant of the waitress and her actions, Marcus tossed a few pound notes on the table. "Eat a meal, Tom, and then snoop around a bit before coming by my office. We'll talk about a new direction."

Tom looked at the offensive pound notes. _Like I'm some errand boy_, he thought to himself angrily before he smiled up at Marcus, not realizing that his grin was almost sinister in nature. "I've actually got a trip to make, Marcus. A possible lead. I need to be gone for a few weeks."

Hesitating only a second, then turning completely trusting, Marcus only merely nodded distractedly. "Okay then. Good luck."

Once Marcus was outside, Tom leaned back in his chair. He remembered, as a boy, that Jeffery's father had taught the boys to hide their wands in their sleeves when they were in the Muggle population. Then, while at a restaurant, he had taught them how slight of hand could perform some very hidden magic while retaining its strong magical quality.

One time, while visiting with Jeffery's family on summer break, they had been eating in a Muggle restaurant. Jeffery's father had used this time to teach the kids how to really mess with the minds of the Muggles, making their food disappear or move to other plates. Coincidently, this was how they had discovered that their friend, Madeline Montgomery, had a very curious sort of magic. She had been in the same restaurant at the same time. When she noticed a few of the fights break out among a few of the customers, she had spotted the boys quickly. They had been 14 at the time, but Madeline, wandless during her meal, had managed to switch Jeffery's and Tom's plates before knocking a glass of wine onto Mr. Ziners' new suit. All of it without a wand. It had taken a month, but Madeline finally explained. It was at that time that he had learned of his own heritage.

But, today, in this restaurant, there would be no teenage pranks on Muggles. No, this prank would be much more…satisfying in nature. Sliding part of his wand from his sleeve, Tom spied the waitress across the restaurant. Carefully aiming as she turned towards his table again, he murmured a little spell.

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Fifteen minutes later, Tom exited the men's room of the restaurant and did not stop when he heard the satisfied waitress give him a breathy plea to return. Subconsciously, he knew that he didn't want to remain because the fantasy would burst when the spell wore off, but consciously, he told himself it was because he was better than the crumpled heap of satisfied female still collapsed on the floor of the last stall in the men's room.

Pulling his own cloak around himself to protect his body from the wet breeze, Tom turned to walk down the London sidewalk, heading towards the nearest hiding spot so he could Apparate. Where would he go? Not out of England, certainly. No, he would go home for a while and then off to Little Hangleton for a little meeting, where they would decide on the next little present to leave Tom's little friend Marcus and their new Minister. Seth Jonson seemed to really like his Master's idea. Tom had a feeling the rest of his Death Eaters would like it just as much.

To Be Continued…


	17. Shadows of War

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura

**Chapter 17: Shadows of War**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). I'm making no money whatsoever off this. Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Dedication**: I decided that after my depressing dedications in a few of the chapters that I would add a cheery one. This is dedicated to Faith Krystalynn, my niece that was born this summer. She was named Faith because after the two babies before her, that's exactly what we all needed – Faith. She has personality plus for only being six months old. It's great to be an aunt! LOL

**Author's Note:** I want to make sure I address the things which deviate from the facts of the novel. I try as hard as possible to keep to the novels, but as many of you already realize, there is A LOT of information in these novels. Even with the brilliant Harry Potter Lexicon, it's hard to know every little detail. Also, some facts become known to me well after a contradicting fact is integrated into my plot (for example, Lucius Malfoy's age – I was not aware that he was older than Snape until well after his age was intricately developed into the plotline of my fan fiction).

Okay, now that that's said, here is the fact I want to address in case I haven't yet – the Prewetts. According to J.K. Rowling's website, they are Molly Weasley's brothers. In my fan fiction, they are _not_ Molly's brothers. While the lack of relation to Molly is not intricate to the storyline, I believe I am too far to turn back on that right now.

Heck, while I'm at this, I'll add another thing – I was asked if I was going to include something from book six. The question was this: would I include Tom Riddle asking Dumbledore for a professorship? The answer is no, this will not be in my fan fiction. Because of future plans that are entirely too intricate to the story, I cannot include this fact. But do not worry – Dumbledore and Riddle will have a confrontation before Riddle fully morphs into Voldemort. Just like Rowling's novel, Dumbledore and Riddle's tensions are going to be the heart of my own fan fiction. I know that Dumbledore doesn't seem all that involved now, but trust me, he's working towards it! It will be worth waiting for.

**New Characters:**

(I think I might have to make a support group for people like me: "Making New Characters Anonymous". Tehe Honestly though, I really try hard not to, but these two have been patiently waiting on the sidelines, so I really have no choice. (Now, if I can only make excuses for all the other characters…tehe.))

**Sean McKillian (mc):** He is only briefly mentioned in passing two different times. For now, I will only say that he is a "Mind Examiner" for the Ministry of Magic (yes, I made "Mind Examiner" up). You will be able to deduce what exactly a "Mind Examiner" is when that job actually becomes a part of the plot, but I can give you a hint now: it's in the medical field. Now, with that information (and the little bit included in the chapter), look at the title of the occupation and take a guess. (If you want confirmation from me, just e-mail me.)

**Professor Graden (mc):** The professor of Transfiguration before Dumbledore started as the professor of that subject. (Graden was just before the one Dumbledore took over from). Graden was also the Head of Slytherin House and one of Grindelwald's top men. His position in Grindelwald's circle was publicly unknown since he was in Hogwarts undercover. His job was to keep an eye on Grindelwald's trainees and to recruit more.

**Timeline:**

Only within a couple weeks of the school year. Jessica, James, and crew are all in their Third Year. We'll be here a little while, so sit back and get comfortable. It shall be a dramatic ride (and it will include our canon Slytherins! And some canon Gryffindors as well.).

**Quote:**

"Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."

-Josh Billings

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"Deep thought, Miss Ziners?"

Jessica didn't even jump when, a week after Marcus and Tom's meeting in London, Stephen Medley walked up to her.

"Yes, Sir," she replied.

Stephen grinned. "Such deep thought for a beautiful fall day. It's actually warm again."

"Be wary of the fall," she murmured before replying to him. "Ironic thought for it being a fall day." Suddenly, she shook herself from her thoughts and looked at him for the first time. "Is there a reason you stopped to speak to me?" she looked up from her spot by a tree in the front lawn of Hogwarts.

Stephen spared a glance to see what she had been staring at. When he saw the Third Year Gryffindor boys messing around in her line of vision, he figured that she had been staring into space.

"Actually, there was," he said. "I couldn't find Professor Rum anywhere in Hogwarts, and Headmaster Dumbledore is uncertain as to his location."

"And you're here to ask me? A mere student?"

"Professor Rum's favorite student it actually appears much of the time," he responded.

She sighed, looking back at her previous spot in space. "I actually don't know where he goes most of the time, but you're in luck today. He offered to get me some ointment for my back, and I took him up on it. He went to Hogsmeade."

"Doesn't Madam Pomfrey carry the ointment you need?"

Jessica shook her head. "In a probably fortunate circumstance, not a lot of Dark Arts is cast within the school, so she doesn't carry much in the way of healing ointments for Dark Magic, including ointment for Cruciatus scars to the degree of which I need."

"Can't Professor Rum make it then? I'm sure he has the needed ingredients."

"Actually, he thinks that a friend of his makes an ointment that will be of more help to me than the regular stuff I use; Professor Rum does carry the needed ingredients for the regular stuff, but he was going to his friend today. His friend lives in Hogsmeade."

Stephen shook his head with a grin and a sigh. Strange. He started back into the school when he returned his look to Jessica. She was still sitting there, staring in the direction of the Gryffindor boys. Stephen was just about to look away when he saw a large ginger cat trot up to Jessica. She grinned at the cat immediately and grabbed it into her lap. The cat went quite willingly, rubbing against her. Suddenly, something was visible on the side of the cat. Jessica glanced around nervously, and Stephen diverted his eyes to make it look like he was looking at some Hufflepuffs tackling each other. When she was confident that she was unnoticed by everyone, Jessica took the note that had been attached to the cat and opened it. Stephen figured out quickly what the cat was – a Magical Messenger. Since it wasn't illegal in the school, it didn't bother him, but it made him terribly curious.

Jessica started laughing at something that was in the letter. She looked up, towards a group of girls walking past the Gryffindor boys. She looked at one in particular – Lily Evans. Lily was looking over her shoulder at Jessica and grinning. Jessica made a motion quickly with her hand for Lily to turn her head. Lily did so, barely suppressing another grin.

Turning back to the school, Stephen thought over this interesting development. A Magical Messenger between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? He understood the need for secrecy. He just didn't understand how the need had developed in the first place. A friendship between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor? Let alone with Jessica Ziners being at one end of that friendship.

With a number of new questions raised in his head about Gary's pet, Stephen did have one very amusing thought. This was like a play, this whole situation with Jessica Ziners. And he was very curious as to what the plot truly was.

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"I'm a little frisky."

Brittany started laughing. Grinning like a devil, Marcus Potter grabbed his wife and kissed her passionately.

"I love the school year," he said, kissing down her neck. "The house is all our own."

Brittany couldn't form a reply. As a matter of fact, both got so enraptured in what Marcus was doing that the house elf had to cough loudly to get their attention.

"Urgh," Marcus growled before closing his wife's blouse and turning to the house elf, using his body to block the little creature's view of Brittany's unbuttoned blouse, biting out as he did so, "What?"  
"Sorry, Sir, but it's Master Moody, and he says it be important."

"I'm decent," Brittany whispered. Marcus nodded and the couple went out to their living area. Moody was dressed in a very wet cloak and was dripping in a puddle onto the floor.

"It's the Dark Mark," Moody said without preamble. "It was over a Muggle house."

Neither Marcus nor Brittany responded, but Moody could see the tensing in both bodies, which made his next announcement, in a way, easier to make.

"All the Muggles are dead."

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"Marcus!"

Marcus turned towards the voice and, with a sigh, started towards the 6'2" wizard standing by the Muggle police chief. They were in the middle of the police and mildly media crowded street. Brittany followed Moody towards the house.

"Harrison, this is Marcus Potter," Landon Scooner started, but Harrison waved him off.

"I met him a few years ago. Hello again, Mr. Potter. I would say that it's good to see you, but it never is."

Marcus gave a terse grin, his mind still working on wrapping itself around the situation. Suddenly, Marcus glanced above the house. The Dark Mark was gone.

"It left about a minute after someone discovered it," Harrison said. "I would have claimed it to be a trick of the light, but I saw it just before it disappeared. I thought I would call you guys in. After describing it to that crazy guy," he nodded towards Moody just before the wizard disappeared into the house, "he said that we needed to call you specifically in."

Marcus nodded and started towards the house but was stopped only a step away from the new Minister of Magic. A terse 'Potter' caused him to turn and glare. Only two months into the job, Landon Scooner had all of the Aurors in an upheaval, none more so than Marcus. Scooner, a tall, imposing figure with iron-gray hair, was not a pushover like many former Ambassadors. He set himself on a course and now with no boss to stop him, no one could.

But Crouch said to be nice to be nice to Scooner. And since Crouch was the one with the say-so on what cases Marcus could take, Marcus would obey the man.

"Yes, Minister?" Marcus said, almost painfully.

"Our press is out there among the Muggles," Scooner said, his voice quiet but steady enough to be heard and understood by Marcus. "Don't say _anything_ about your stupid Voldemort. He doesn't exist. I don't want to scare our people needlessly. They don't want to think about another Grindelwald, which this Voldemort is not and will not be."

Marcus started to say something but bit his tongue angrily and turned on his boot heel.

When Marcus entered the room where the murders had taken place, he found that he was not surprised, though the others in the room were taken aback. Only two people had managed to pull themselves into the room and set to work, but they were completely silent, not disturbing the pristine energy of the room.

The house was a small house. The family had obviously been on the poorer side, though not poor enough to be unable to afford their own home. The murders had taken place in the kitchen.

Marcus took a step into the room and even his own feet seemed muffled. There was a sort of grey color quality surrounding the whole scene, the noises of the past suspended in frozen time, crystallized at the moment that this kitchen had the chance to honor an evil sorcerer.

The victims were an older man, probably the grandfather; a boy, probably about ten years old; a man old enough to be the boy's father but probably not, judging by his similarities to the final victim, who was a woman probably around Marcus' own age, probably the boy's mother and the daughter of the older man. The victims were placed around the kitchen table, in the chairs. A Muggle board game sat on the table, appearing half-played.

The oddest thing about the scene – the factor making the place so eerily still – was that the four Muggles appeared stupefied into their positions. A trained eye could tell that they were indeed dead, but the whole action was very strange. The family had been placed into position to appear as though they were having a good time while they played. The woman was smiling with pride across the table at the boy while he grinned mischievously back at her.

Marcus walked around the table slowly. He looked over the men. At a new angle, he realized that the men were not having as good of a time playing as the mother and son were. They seemed frustrated. As Marcus walked, he saw the boy differently now. He had just played a trick, a good trick, on the men, and it had made his mom happy.

"I want close up pictures of each face," Marcus murmured to the photographer as he walked past him. "And someone get me someone from Muggle Artifacts. I want to know if the Muggles played this board game or if it was set up to look as though they had."

"Marcus," Brittany, who had entered after Marcus and now stood beside the mother, said. Leaning closely to the woman's arm and then at the side of her face, she said, "This woman was abused."

Marcus stopped, looking upon the scene with a new light. It suddenly made some perverse sense to him. "Probably by the men." To the Auror Forensics Team, which was now being pushed in by Moody, Marcus said, "I want to know if she has bruises elsewhere. The boy as well."

"This doesn't match anything you have on this Voldemort," Scooner said, making his presence in the room known.

"No, but it matches what I've learned about the man."

"If the mother and son were abused, this was a mercy killing," Scooner replied.

"But he killed the mother and son too," Brittany said in defense. "That wasn't mercy."

"In his mind…it was," Marcus murmured as he glanced under the table. The boy's feet didn't even reach the floor. "In Voldemort's mind, this _was_ mercy."

"Mercy, Marcus?" Moody asked.

"Yes. He was protecting the mother and son…from the world, or something else. I don't know."

"This creates a very interesting portrait of this supposed Voldemort then," Scooner replied.

"It does indeed. But there is something more interesting to ponder. This was a present for me, Minister. And for you. It was a taunt."

"Pray explain, Marcus," he said skeptically.

"Murdering Minister Rin under my nose had two advantages. Minister Rin was a little freer with the Aurors…than other people would be," Marcus said, trying to be as diplomatic as possible while being so distracted. "And then there was the advantage of bringing me down a notch. He wants me to keep in mind how much better he believes he is than I am. He wants to be noticed is my guess, and he knows that I'm noticing him. But he doesn't want me to forget who it is that I'm noticing."

"But, to the aggravation of most, you are noticing him quite a bit. So why the Muggle killing?"

"In his mind, he chose his victims as a present to me. Getting rid of a little bit of evil – abusers. I'm sure he had the Ziners kids in mind when he did that. The choice of his victims was a reward to me."

"How do we know he even knew who he was killing?"

"For one, he rarely leaves out the details. But for the second one, look at the boy and then at the men. The men are angry with the boy. The boy's grin tells me he just did something devious. He probably tricked the men into losing, something abusers tend not to take so well. And now look where the boy is looking." Marcus bent next to the boy and looked where the boy was looking. He gestured the line of vision to those present. "The mother. 'Ha, ha, Mommy, I did it. I got them. I beat the bad men at their own game.'" Marcus was quiet a moment, still squatting next to the boy. He brought his hand back and tapped his fingers against his chin. "Maybe Voldemort thinks that's what Jessica should have felt." The words were so quiet that no one heard him, but that didn't enter into Marcus' brain for one second, for the others in the room were barely there to him. "This was a reward to me for noticing him." Standing up, Marcus continued perusing the scene, looking around the kitchen, at the different Muggle devices and seeing if he could spot anything that had been touched by Voldemort. He was then surprised to notice that Voldemort may have touched a few things. Pointing them out to the Forensic Aurors as he continued speaking, he said, "And then this killing is for you. Actually, the Dark Mark was for you specifically, Minister. That meant the death of our last Minister, Malfoy not withstanding. Voldemort wants you to be aware of him.

"And thirdly—"

"Potter," Scooner said, his voice loud and threatening, "Rin may have tolerated this idiocy of yours, but I will not. You are taking a string of unrelated incidents and trying to tie them into a neat little bow and call it Grindelwald the Second. You were too young during that idiot's reign, but I wasn't. I lost a wife and a daughter. Trust me, _Grindelwald will not happen again_. You will not make this Voldemort up to being one. So far, we may have two murders that _might_ be related. However, the only thing connecting them is some conjurings of green smoke that I still highly doubt ever existed." Scooner had crossed the kitchen during his speech and almost stood toe-to-toe with Marcus. Despite Marcus' height, he stood up to the man, which surprised no one, for everyone there highly doubted that Marcus even realized he was shorter than the average male. Glancing skeptically around the room, Scooner said, "And from what I have read and seen, neither of the two murders with this _green smoke_," the words were said almost bitterly, "are, in any other way, alike. I would have good mind to split the cases and give them to two separate Aurors, and not to someone," he grinned sarcastically at Marcus, "_as important as the Head of Major Cases_, but I have no interest in disturbing Barty Crouch's world _yet_. But, Potter," he took a step closer and had to bend his head slightly to glare at Marcus, "don't doubt that I will fire you if you step out of line too much, even if I have to fire Barty Crouch to do it!"

And with that, the Minister left.

The room was silent for another half a minute before the other occupants were of good mind to pretend as though nothing had happened. Marcus remained unmoving, still in the spot he had been when publicly threatened by the Minister of Magic. He didn't move until Moody and Brittany walked up to him.

"And thirdly what, Potter?" Moody barked.

"What?" Marcus shook his head before turning back to the counter. He looked back at what he had been looking at before the Minister's little speech - a pan in the sink. He saw that the suds on the handle of the pan had been disturbed. Either the mother had been caught mid-washing or someone had touched the pan afterwards. And for some reason, Marcus thought it the latter and that the one that touched it had been Voldemort himself. Why had he touched it? Out of curiosity? Or because he had been in such deep thought, as Marcus was now, wondering what had been going through the mind of the person who had stood in this spot before him. Marcus could also see a hand print on the handle of the pan. Marcus grabbed some suds onto his own hand and brought it up to his face. Had the suds reminded Voldemort of something? Maybe it brought up a memory. Had it been a good memory? Or a bad memory? Had it made him sad? Or had it made him happy? Had it reminded him of his mother? Did Voldemort even have a mother? Yes, he did. Marcus wondered where she was. What was her story?

"Marcus, what was the third thing?" Brittany said. "You were about to say a third thing before Scooner lapsed into his power trip."

"Unfortunately, I think it was a true trip," Marcus said quietly. "I think he was serious about those threats."

"We'll deal with that bridge when we have to worry about it," Moody growled. "Third thing?"

Glancing around the room again, at the articulate detail paid to the kitchen's shabby possessions, Marcus murmured as he pushed between Brittany and Moody to continue his perusal of the room.

"Thirdly, Voldemort committed this murder because he was bored and wanted something to amuse himself."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Marcus Potter is heading the case, Minister Scooner informed reporters late last night. When asked if the Ministry thought that this had anything to do with Voldemort, the man that Potter has been investigating the past three and a half years, Scooner said no. 'Mr. Potter was chosen as investigator because he is the Head of Major Cases, and we take the murder of Muggles as a very grievous offense. Finding those responsible is a top priority.'"

"Scooner's an idiot."

"_That_ I actually agree with."

Those in the hearing vicinity stopped to give Lily Evans a surprised look. Folding _The Daily Prophet_ back up neatly, Lily grinned innocently as she bit into an apple.

James just shook his head before adding, "My dad doesn't say it, but I think he thinks Scooner's an idiot too."

"Yeah, he does," Julie Rin said, coming to breakfast slightly out of breath, signaling that the Head Girl had slept late. "I heard him agree with my mum when my mum told him about the moron coming to our house."

"You should write to your dad and ask him if he thinks that the Muggle murders were committed by Voldemort," Sirius suggested.

James shook his head. "I can't talk to my dad about that. I can't ask about any of my mum's and dad's cases."

Suddenly, Sirius started laughing, and the group looked to where he was looking. Casey Ziners was pulling himself up from having fallen over a book someone had dropped. Glancing toward a nearby crowd of laughing Ravenclaws, Lily quickly figured the book had been dropped on purpose to trip the accident-prone Second Year. They quieted quickly however when another Second Year, a blonde boy, helped Casey up. The boy, Lily recognized then, was Jim Jones. As small as Casey, he, surprisingly, frightened many of the other kids, young and old alike. He was very intelligent, very intense, and unsettled many people.

But Jones alone wasn't what caused the Ravenclaws to quiet. It was the group behind him. The Slytherin Quidditch Team had entered then. Rodolophus Lestrange, by far the tallest of the group, was giving the Ravenclaws a menacing look that would have even made Sirius Black cower. Lily wondered briefly if a fight was about to break out, but she stopped worrying a second later when Jeff Rin stepped in front of them. The Ravenclaws stopped laughing and turned away without a word. But Jeff, strangely, didn't seem satisfied. He turned to Rodolophus with a nod. Grinning wickedly, Rodolophus bent down to pick up the offending book that had tripped Casey. Starting towards the Ravenclaws and grabbing Casey while he did this, the Ravenclaws nearly started to run for their lives but stopped when Rodolophus made a motion to hand them the book. When they gave the Seventh Year a confused look, Lily realized that Rodolophus didn't have the book anymore. Suddenly, Casey shoved the book into the gut of the Seventh Year Ravenclaw that had dropped the book. The shove had been unexpected and caused the Ravenclaw to grunt in pain. When McGonagall stood up and started to the crowd from the teacher's table, both Rodolophus and Casey became instantly very kind towards the Ravenclaw, helping him up. From the looks on their faces, apologies were being said, apologies Lily would bet were very insincere. Just before McGonagall was within hearing range Rodolophus whispered something to the Ravenclaw, something threatening Lily was sure.

By the time McGonagall reached them, Jeff Rin had stepped forward and was there to give an explanation to McGonagall, an explanation that probably oozed with misunderstandings and accidents on the part of the Slytherins.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Marcus barely glanced at the door when there was a knock.

"Who is it?" he called distractedly.

"Ar-Arth-Arthur Weasley."

Marcus smiled at his paperwork before he told the man to come in. He gave the man a smile prior to gesturing that he should sit. "And how is my favorite man in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department?"

Arthur looked embarrassed and mumbled a positive reply before revealing, "I have the results from the report you requested."

"What?"

"The Muggle board game at the murder scene last night."

"Oh," Marcus nodded, finally giving Arthur his full attention. "Yes. Was it played correctly?"

Arthur shook his head. "No. It was set up but not played according to the Muggle rules."

Marcus nodded. "Thanks, Arthur. I know that it's not your department's usual practice to look into these things."

Arthur shook his head. "No, that's fine. I enjoyed it. Well, not the cause, but—"

Marcus chuckled and waved him off. "That's fine, Arthur. I understand. Thanks for letting me know."

Arthur stood up. "Here's the official report." He handed Marcus a parchment that had a mixture of writing and pictures and a piece of odd-looking paper. Marcus held up the odd paper and gave Arthur a curious look.

"It's the instructions from the game. It's on Muggle paper."

Marcus nodded again and bid the man goodbye. Arthur opened the door, and Brittany nearly ran into him. Apologies were excused, more profusely by Arthur than by Britt, causing Marcus to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

When the door was shut and Brittany and Marcus were securely alone, Marcus chuckled softly. "He needs to calm down."

Brittany smiled. "I like him. Both him and his wife." Brittany's beautiful smile faded as she got lost in thought.

Marcus sighed. He knew what was going on in her head. "Just because you didn't believe him at first doesn't make you a bad person. Daniel Montgomery didn't even suspect that his niece and nephew were getting abused."

Brittany shook her head. "It's not that again. Well, not entirely. I was doing my morning check on our _ever-so-favorite_ potions mistress, and I overheard some things." Brittany, who had taken a seat in the visitor's chair that Arthur had vacated, picked up the frozen Snitch that sat on Marcus' desk and played with it for half a minute before continuing, her eyes remaining on the Snitch. "Rebella Snape was complaining that Gary Rum came to take her son Severus away to school. She didn't think that Severus was worth the effort."

Marcus remained silent.

Brittany finally set the Snitch back on the desk and leaned back in the chair. "Tell me that all of Voldemort's followers treat their kids like the scum of the earth. Maybe they'll all get a very great lesson from Jessica Ziners."

Marcus smiled at her before taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I wish," he said after a minute, "but I think Miss Ziners will be our only contestant in _that_ game." Marcus slipped his glasses back on. "Did you find anything else out about Rebella?"

Brittany shrugged. "Not much. She mainly complained about Severus' lack of worth. However, I am starting to think that another raid on Borgin & Burkes might be in order within the next three months."

Marcus laughed. "That is always a delight of epic proportions."

Brittany grinned. After a second, she nodded towards the parchments that Marcus had set on his desk just as Brittany had entered the room. "What is that?"  
"The report on the board game." Brittany immediately leaned forward and swiped the parchments off the desk. "Weasley took a look at the game," Marcus continued. "It wasn't played correctly."

Brittany glanced up from her skimming. "It wasn't?" There was a half grin on her face. "That is very fascinating."

Marcus nodded. "To say the least."

"He took the time to find these Muggles involved in abuse, he stalked them, and he took the time to not only set the scene but to set the game. Hours and no attention paid to detail with the game? This lends credence to your theory."

"Which one?"

"The one where this murder was a present to you. The Muggle game wasn't the present. The abusive family. He spent no time to actually care about the Muggles themselves. The idea – the time involved – it was completely for you, Marcus."

"Don't try to cheer me up," Marcus replied before looking back at the list that he had been looking at before Weasley had entered the office – the list of who had signed in the night of Minister Rin's murder. Brittany remained in the visitor's chair and started reading Weasley's report. They kept to themselves for a few minutes before there was a knock. Tom Riddle walked in without announcement.

"Hi, Tom," Marcus said. He returned to staring at the list for one more second before sighing.

Tom leaned slightly over the desk to see what Marcus had been looking at. "The name still not identifying itself?" Tom chuckled, causing Marcus to smile. Ever since Rin's murder, Marcus had taken to staring at this list, sometimes for almost an hour. A while ago, Tom had joked that Marcus was waiting for the name of Voldemort to leap off the page and identify itself.

"How was your possible lead? I thought you would be gone longer."

"It turned out to be a lot quicker than I had originally expected. Some idiot pretending that he knew more than he actually did."

Marcus nodded. "Okay. Take a seat, Tom." Marcus gestured towards the other visitor's chair since the man hadn't taken a seat yet. He seemed almost…excited about something. Marcus rarely read the man correctly, so he didn't even bother to ask.

"Alastor is God knows where. Something about hearing something and maybe a lead somewhere. Anyhow, he's not here, so let's get started on a meeting." Marcus snapped his jaw shut however when the newly installed red light on his left wall blinked twice. Tom looked at the light in fascination as Brittany and Marcus both groaned.

Scooner walked in without knocking.

"Potter!" But he stopped before he even got started. "Who's this?" In his motion to gesture to Tom, he nearly knocked him on the head. Tom got out of the way just in time.

"Minister, this is Tom Riddle, my second man. Tom, this is Landon Scooner, our new minister."

Tom raised his eyebrows at Marcus before standing and turning towards the Minister. He reached for Scooner's hand but had to suspend his own to wait for Scooner to realize that he wanted to shake his hand.

"Hello, Minister. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah. Likewise." Scooner smiled at him. "Sorry, but.—"

"Yes. You came in to talk to my boss." Tom let go of his hand and sat down. Once he was facing away from the Minister, Tom grinned at Marcus. Marcus didn't flinch, merely looked back to Scooner.

"Yeah?"

"The _Prophet_ is going to run a story tomorrow on your cockamamie theory about Voldemort murdering the Muggles!"

Marcus gave Scooner a confused look. "What?"

"Don't give me that!"

"I'm not giving you anything but bewilderment, Minister. I had no idea that the _Prophet_ had any information."

"Then where did they get the information?" Scooner demanded.

"If I may interject," Tom murmured.

Marcus nodded at him.

"The _Prophet_ has already conjectured on the possibility that Voldemort is responsible for the Muggle murders. It would not be that big of a leap to say it for sure."

"Maybe for you," Scooner replied before pointing at Marcus. "There will be an investigation on the leak, Potter!" Scooner turned on his heel and left.

"_That_ was a treat, to say the least," Tom commented before nodding towards the light. "What is that about?"

"It's a warning light," Brittany said without amusement. "It's charmed to flash when Scooner is coming towards the office."

Tom laughed. "Very nice. I would ask why you would want warning, but I imagine I already know the answer to that."

Marcus nodded absently as he searched through the parchments on his desk. "I have the crime scene report," he muttered. "I want you to look it over, Tom, before we talk about a new approach to Voldemort."

Tom nodded silently. When Marcus finally found the report and handed it over, Brittany finished the board game report and handed it to Tom. "You can read this when you're done with that."

Tom took it and put it underneath the other parchments. "When I'm done, do you want this, Brittany?" He pointed to the crime scene report.

She nodded. "Yeah. I haven't had a stab at it yet."

Tom got up and started to leave but was stopped by Marcus. "Your parents were from Little Hangleton, weren't they?"

Tom's turn was slow and curious. "Yes." The word was as slow as his movements. "Why?"

"Did you stop there on your trip to your lead?"

Tom loosened up and shook his head. "No. Why?"

Marcus shrugged. "No reason really. It's just that…well, someone thought they saw you around there."

Tom smiled. "Well, I haven't been around there in ages." He held the reports up. "I'm going to the strategy room to read these."

When he was gone, Brittany turned curiously to her husband. "Who thought they saw Tom?"

"Sean McKillian."

"What was McKillian doing in Little Hangleton?"

Without looking at his wife, Marcus responded, "He brought a couple of trainees up there for some training thing."

"Did McKillian corner you again?" Brittany asked on a sigh.

Marcus nodded but didn't speak. With good reason. A Mind Examiner with a specialty in Dark Magic, Sean McKillian was the head of the Mind Examiners in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Unfortunately, his job was not only to consult on cases but also to keep an eye on the Aurors. Marcus wished he could blame Scooner for this, but Marcus knew that Sean McKillian disliked the new Minister as much as he did and would have outright refused the order. McKillian, however, had gotten into the habit of 'cornering Marcus' before Scooner arrived. Actually, the first 'cornering' had occurred the day after the Minister Rin's murder and had only increased after the incident with Jessica Ziners.

There was a half-minute of silence before Brittany spoke again. "Tom seemed a bit…apprehensive when you asked him if his parents were from Little Hangleton."

Marcus glanced up to see his wife at the door, her hand resting on the knob, her head turning from her exit towards him. He nodded before glancing back at his work. "Not all that surprising. He grew up in an orphanage, so he never knew his parents."

"Tom shared that with you?" Brittany's voice was surprised.

Marcus shook his head at his parchments. "No. Albus Dumbledore did. The orphanage was Muggle-run, so Dumbledore was sent to help Tom get started with Hogwarts."

He heard Brittany let go of a whoosh of air before leaving the office.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Gary was knee deep into the Third Year Gryffindors' excuse for essays when a soft knock echoed on his door. Upon inquiring who it was, he discovered that Miss Ziners stood behind the wooden wall. She entered and sat after Gary's instruction to do so. He finished bashing the current essay in front of him even though he could feel Ziners' nervous tension. Her nervousness distracted him immensely for the girl was relaxed in his presence to an unforgiving degree, and he had no idea why that would change right now.

After he finished Mr. Black's horrid essay, he set it on a pile of finished essays and reached in his lower left desk drawer. From its depths, he pulled a small sack and set it on his desk. Out of it, he pulled out a tube of cream. He handed it over to her. She merely took it and stared intently at the unlabeled tube.

"What's wrong, Miss Ziners?" Gary asked tiredly.

She glanced up from the tube. "What's different about this from the regular stuff?"

"It's stronger."

She looked back at the tube. "Why wouldn't Malf make it stronger?"

"You need special knowledge and a special license to make it that way." Gary started on the next essay, relieved that it was Lily Evans' essay. After the horror that was Black's, he needed one that wasn't going to hurt his brain.

"A special license?" she asked before sucking in a breath. Gary looked up at her again to see that she was biting her lower lip.

"What is it, Miss Ziners?" Gary growled, wanting to finish these damn essays.

"This is the guy that makes your stuff, isn't it?"

"My stuff? What are you talking about?"

"Your pain stuff for your arm. Severus told me what it was, but I can't pronounce it. He told me about this pain type stuff and this special license stuff because if you don't have the pain, it makes you goofy or somethin'. He said that because you have a teacher's license, you can't have a license to make the stuff. 'Cause of the students."

Gary looked back at the essay but saw nothing, causing him to look back at Miss Ziners. "Is there a reason you're still in here?"

She nodded as she slipped the cream into her right robe pocket. "Yes, there is." She paused before adding, "Actually, I just thought of something else. Will I get into trouble for having this then?" She patted the pocket that now held the cream.

Gary shook his head. "No, it's not strong enough for your so-called 'goofiness'."

She nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, the other thing. Professor Mudbutt was looking for you yesterday."

"Professor what?"

She grinned. "Professor Medley."

"Three points for disrespecting a teacher."

Her jaw dropped. "Come on! No one's here but you and me."

"You have to start learning respect, even if you assume you're alone, Miss Ziners. And yes, Professor Medley found me." Gary looked back at Evans' essay.

She brushed his words away. "That's not what I was getting at. It's just that…he's still watching me a lot. And I think he told Dumbledore about the thing with the Boggart."

"Yes, he is. Get use to it. And yes, he did."

Jessica's jaw worked a moment before she managed to say, "But why? I thought you took care of it."  
"Miss Ziners, I am not your keeper," Gary responded, irritated.

She was silent a long time, causing Gary to look back up. He caught sight of her at the door. "Miss Ziners!"

She didn't stop immediately, intent on leaving.

"Sit, now." The words weren't yelled, but they didn't need to be. Despite her intent on doing her own thing her own way, she still responded to Gary's 'teacher voice'.

Jessica walked back to the seat, head down, and sat, head still down.

"Professor Medley did share with Professor Dumbledore the incident with the Boggart. You haven't been expelled yet, so does this not say something?"

She glanced at him, but her eyes shot back down when she saw that he was looking at her. "There hasn't been enough time to expel me…"

"Yes, there has. Professor Dumbledore knew about the incident last year."

She opened her mouth and said half of the word 'when' before she trailed off. Her eyes looking straight at Gary's, Gary knew she had determined the answer on her own.

"Last Christmas," she said, before sighing down to her feet. "Should've guessed back then, I guess. With Dad's murder, I'm surprised y'all didn't bring the cavalry on me." She was scratching her ear and was completely unaware of the slip into her southern accent. Gary had noticed that the slips back into her accent while at Hogwarts had diminished considerably during her schooling. "How long did he wait before ratting me out?"  
"He did not 'rat you out', Miss Ziners. You did not do something bad. You did something unusual and frightening. It was Professor Medley's duty to share his concerns with Professor Dumbledore, especially with what happened over last Christmas. Professor Dumbledore made a judgment based upon your character and performance since entering school. He did not expel you then and won't now unless you do something actually deserving of it. Did Professor Dumbledore make the wrong decision?"

Jessica looked at him quickly and shook her head. "No, no. Right decision." She glanced away for another moment before bringing her face back to him. "It's just that, well…I just don't like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Do you ever feel like you cheated? Not like on a test or at school, but…but in life. You have more chances than you were actually handed at the beginning of it all."

Gary looked off to his left before slowly nodding at the girl. "Every day of my life. But, Miss Ziners…" Gary sighed, awash in memory. He remembered the day it had happened, when he had gotten the chance he should never have received. His first taste of freedom, a life without his parents, his brother, Grindelwald. He was 17, and it was his last day at Hogwarts. That night, he hadn't taken the train back home. Nor had Vince, Celerina, or Henry. They could not hide in the dormitories of Slytherin because Professor Graden, the head of the house at the time and the professor of Transfiguration, had also been one of Grindelwald's top men. So the four had hid in a girl's bathroom on the second floor, knowing that Peeves usually avoided that girl's bathroom.

Graden, however, having been immediately informed when the train had reached London that the four had not been on board, searched all of the girl's bathrooms. Graden had given Gary some close training and knew how he thought. And Graden had come into the bathroom and before they knew what had happened, the four were wandless, Henry and Celerina, First and Sixth Years respectively, bloodied and unconscious, and Graden had Vince by the throat, his wand pressed so hard into Vince's jugular that the boy, only a Second Year then, had made involuntary gagging noises. And Gary had assumed he and his friends had reached the end of the road.

However, a man came into the bathroom then, a man that would proceed to repeatedly give Gary chances he did not deserve. That was also the day that marked the first time that Gary fought side-by-side with Albus Dumbledore, who, at the time, had been a cocky, young Auror that had been overly pleased with himself for having not only found Graden out but also tracked him into the girl's second floor bathroom, where the man was about to give Gary the 'Grindelwald choice' – his side or death.

"Miss Ziners," Gary said again, coming out of his memory, "sometimes, we really don't know the road planned for us. Some of us need more chances than others."

She glanced down and was silent awhile before shrugging. "I…no, it's not as simple as that." She sighed at her feet. "Or maybe it is." She patted her pocket. "Thank you for this," she mumbled, turning away and leaving without giving him a second of eye contact.

Gary thought that there should be a book for kids in Jessica's position, but then shook his head at himself. The only people that would understand a need for that would be the ones in that position. Others would be horrified. Horrified at desperation. At terror. At what they themselves ask people to do and then are shocked that they do it. Before they asked this, people in general should understand the task. The task of turning against evil when you are born into it. The task of being best friends with your enemies. The task of turning against men who used your little brother or your friends as weapons, weapons that were more deadly than a wand. And then they should allow those who take the task, allow them to perform it to the best of their ability. Because they were the only ones that knew how to turn against evil.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Marcus Potter showed up on Hogwarts grounds the day before Halloween. As he walked through the grounds, among some children playing in the snow, he idly looked for his son, though his son was not his destination. It was the reason for his journey but seeing him was not the objective.

In his perusal of the children, he noticed a lone figure sitting under a barren tree in Marcus' own path towards the castle. It was Jessica. She was staring across the yard, watching something intently. Marcus walked up to her but didn't announce his presence. He followed her line of vision. She was staring at his son and his friends. And at the boys standing nearby. It was Ignatius Malfoy's son and some other boys, obvious Slytherins.

"Think they're going to fight?" Marcus asked, causing Jessica to glance at him.

"I don't know," she murmured. "Nothing I need to concern myself with. James has over-proven his own ability to defend himself."

Marcus grinned at the annoyed tone in her voice.

"Why are you here?" Jessica asked. "I don't recall James doing anything particularly evil lately, at least evil enough for a parent. Anyhow, Mrs. Potter usually does that stuff, doesn't she?"

Marcus turned to the girl and raised his eyebrows. "You seem to know a lot about the inner workings of my family."

"I talk a lot, but I'm a good watcher. I want to be an Auror. Professor Rum says that there are surprisingly many similarities between students and villains. So I now observe the students and their interactions. No time to start training like the present, eh?"

"Well, don't work on it with my family," Marcus said, still unnerved by her observations of his own family.

"Two Aurors though," Jessica said, either unaware of Marcus' tensing or choosing to ignore it. "And two good Aurors at that. I need to learn from the best." She grinned at him.

"Don't kiss up either," Marcus replied, returning her grin but not so easily.

"So why are you here?" Jessica asked, turning back to James and his group. She didn't wait for an answer but stood up and left back towards the castle. Marcus didn't question this for a glance towards his son and his sons' friends told him the reason for Jessica's abrupt departure. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were now walking towards him.

"Dad! What are you doing here?" James asked.

"I have to talk with Professor Dumbledore. How has school been going?"

"Good," James said. "Only three detentions."

Marcus chuckled. He had made a deal with James at the start of the year. If he would get less than ten detentions during the entire year, Marcus would buy him the broom of his choice, regardless of the cost.

"Well, hold on there and don't spend all the detentions before Christmas."

"I don't know, Mr. Potter. That might be hard for him," Remus said with a wicked grin.

"You should probably stop hanging out with Sirius then, James," Peter added and laughed as he took off running, Sirius on his heels.

Marcus laughed at the boys but was too distracted to comment. "I have to go, James," he said, looking at his son. "Make sure to mind your teachers and stay away from the Slytherins. That should help considerably." Returning James' grin with an identical one, he grabbed his son's shoulder affectionately and started back towards the school, smiling slightly as he heard the laughs of the boys as they roughhoused in the snow. The laughter, however, made Marcus' trip here grimmer than it already was.

Entering the castle, Marcus didn't notice Stephen Medley at first. Finally, the man grabbed his arm.

"If I didn't know better, Marcus Harry Potter, I would say that you have a lot on your mind."

Marcus glared at him, causing Stephen to let go and hold up his hand.

"Okay, poor joke. I know that you have a lot on your mind. That was the joke…an obvious…"

"I get the joke," Marcus said, starting up the steps.

"What's wrong?" Stephen started up beside him, walking close enough for Marcus to whisper.

"What's not wrong – that's the shorter answer."

"I heard that you and Scooner are getting along famously."

"Another poor joke, Stephen. Where did you hear that though? We've managed to keep our intent dislike out of the paper so far."

"Sean McKillian."

Marcus snorted. "That man should stick to analyzing those he's interrogating and stay away from those in the department."

"It's also his job to keep an eye on the law enforcement department," Stephen reminded him.

Sighing, the older Auror didn't comment but merely continued toward Dumbledore's office.

"Oh, Dumbledore – that's who I assume you are looking for – is not in his office but having tea with Rum down in the dungeon."

Marcus turned back towards the stairs.

"Why did I become an Auror, Stephen?"

"To catch evil-doers and promote justice and peace throughout the world."

Marcus rolled his eyes at Stephen's happy-go-lucky tone, causing the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to laugh. "Seriously, Marcus, we all have our own reasons. Yours, if I remember correctly, had something to do with your father."

"I wanted to be like him," Marcus supplied. "And to vanquish evil," he added with his own light-hearted tone.

Stephen laughed again, and Marcus finally grinned.

"We should get red capes and become Muggle superheroes," Stephen suggested with a wicked smirk. Stopping in front of the dungeon doors, he said, "Well, I will leave you to the dungeons and Rum. I find it best for my sanity and health to avoid the Potions Master as much as possible." Making a sweeping gesture towards the open dungeon doors, Stephen bowed.

"Thank you so kindly," Marcus quipped before walking through the doors, bidding Stephen a good-bye, Stephen reciprocating in kind.

Once in the dank dungeons, Marcus listened for a moment. He could hear quieted voices nearby and decided that they were in Gary Rum's office. He knocked on the door. Surprisingly, Marcus could actually feel his hands getting clammy as memories of detentions down here floated through his head. Rum had been a very frightening teacher and terrible with his punishments, so terrible that even a feared Auror like Marcus still remembered them nervously.

"Who is it?" came a bark.

"Marcus Potter," Marcus called back.

There was a rude comment from Rum before Dumbledore replied, "Come in, Marcus!"

Marcus entered the office with a laugh, albeit a slightly nervous one. "Sorry to disturb you, Professor Rum, but I very much need to speak with Professor Dumbledore." He paused half a second, in which time Professor Dumbledore stood up, but Marcus waved him down. "Actually, now that I think about it, it's probably best if the both of you hear it."

Rum raised his eyebrows but didn't respond.

"Please sit, Marcus," Dumbledore invited with a grin Rum's direction.

Marcus took a visitor's chair. "I really honestly shouldn't be here," he began, "not only because of the nature of what I'm about to reveal, but if Minister Scooner found out I was here, I might have a job in jeopardy. But…due to recent events, I very much am beginning to worry about my son's safety."

Neither man spoke but both looked very curious.

"I'm sure that the both of you have been keeping a close eye on both the Rin murder investigation and the death of the Muggle family that occurred just recently."

"Like every other person in the Magic world," Rum murmured.

Marcus didn't respond with a smile. "I don't mean through the papers. I mean through your contacts."

Rum merely took a sip of tea. Dumbledore, however, nodded.

"Anyhow, I don't know how much either of you know, but…I'm about to break a few laws here, but I'm going to tell you something about both those cases. And if Scooner found out I even breathed a word of this to either of you, despite the fact that he knows it wouldn't travel past either of you, he would have me unemployed for the rest of my life."

"What is it, Marcus?" Dumbledore asked, giving his former student a concerned look.

"Both of those cases are connected. They were committed by the same man." Marcus sighed. "They were both committed by Voldemort." He took an even bigger breath before plunging on, "And I have reason to believe that Voldemort is communicating to me through these murders. It was no accident I was in the Ministry the night Minister Rin was murdered. The fact I had just been in Rin's office was no mistake. Voldemort was very likely in the outer offices when I walked out. He was probably watching me.

"With these Muggle murders, I know that he was amusing himself. But in there, there was another communication with me. In a perverse way, these murders were an award to me for paying attention." Marcus shook his head angrily.

"But anyway," he said after a pause, "the more I think about this, the more I worry. I know that Voldemort is now paying attention to me, so I'm beginning to worry about my family. I've got an eye on Brittany at the Ministry, plus she can take care of herself out of the Ministry, but James…I know about the safety of Hogwarts and the fact that both of you are here. But I just want the two of you to have a heads up."

For the first time since entering his speech, Marcus looked up. Rum, who had obviously been looking at him, looked away as soon as Marcus went to meet his eyes. Dumbledore, on the other hand, being his usual self, nodded with a smile.

"Thank you, Marcus, for speaking with us. And I assure you, as long as I am in this school, every one of these kids will remain safe. And now I will know of a certain danger that may lie before James, which is more than I have on a lot of the children." Here, Dumbledore glanced at Rum as the Potions Master took a sip of tea.

Instead of taking Dumbledore's bait, Rum turned his eyes back to Marcus.

"How are you so sure this Voldemort committed both crimes? They are very different. I heard of the green marking, but both crimes are so very different."

"The fact that it doesn't make sense is the very tie to these two crimes," Marcus said to Rum after a pause. "When I am handed a case with a serial murder, it almost has comfort in its identical MOs. But the person committing the murders almost wants to be caught. He enjoys murdering and finds equal comfort as I in the rhythm of the ritual. But this Voldemort…he finds comfort in making me guess. He looks at each new murder as a certain challenge. He enjoys the taste of blood, so to speak, but he finds boredom in the ritual of death. And, unlike a serial murderer, murder is not his objective. It's more of a minor hobby to him. No, in the very fact that these murders, and the probable murders that preceded it, are not identical shows us that he isn't murdering to murder. He's murdering for a higher objective, so to speak."

Rum responded by sipping his tea.

Suddenly, there was a noisy trip and a very loud curse outside of Rum's office door.

Setting down his tea with a sigh, Rum said, "Well, Mr. Ziners has officially announced the arrival of someone in need of my library."

Sure enough, a knock sounded just as Rum finished the sentence.

Casey Ziners started to call, "Professor, Sir—", but it was cut off with a muffle, causing Marcus to start towards the door.

When Marcus got to the door, Casey was alone and putting his wand away.

"Mr. Potter," the 12-year old said with surprise.

"What happened?"

Casey gave him an innocent look. "Nothin', Sir."

Marcus heard some noise around the corner and started to turn towards it, but Casey started to gently push him back in the office. That was stopped however when Sirius, James, and Remus showed up.

"Where is she, Ziners?" Sirius demanded.

"Where is who, Black?" Casey asked with a snide, disdaining tone.

"My sister!"

Casey gestured around the dungeon hallway. "It's the dungeon, Black. The depths of Hell, as your sister so eloquently put it. Slytherin territory. I highly doubt your sister's down here."

James walked past Casey and looked in the Potions classroom. A second later he emerged with a tied up and mute Sarah Black.

Casey gave a look of shock. Marcus had to bite back a smile. The boy was really quite good.

Casey added to his act by saying, "Sarah Black, what are you doing down here? And what happened?"

"Professor," Sirius said, turning towards Dumbledore. "Look at what Ziners did!"

"You heard me knock at the door, Professor," Casey said, directing his comments toward Dumbledore. "Did I have time to do that?" he asked, gesturing towards the mute Sarah. "Sarah is quite good with her wand. It would have taken me much longer."

"No, it wouldn't have," Marcus murmured under his breath. He knew that Casey had heard him, but the boy ignored him.

Dumbledore released Sarah Black from her spells. "What happened, Miss Black?"

Casey launched into a version of what happened at the same exact time she did, resulting in that neither was heard.

Dumbledore sighed.

Marcus turned back to the men with a grin. "I better get away from this as fast as I can. Thanks for your time, professors."

Bidding his byes to James and his son's friends, Marcus left.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Perfect Casey has detention," Jessica said dramatically, grabbing her chest and pretending to keel over from a heart attack.

Rabastan laughed and even Lucius managed a grin.

"I heard it really was well done of him," Lucius said. "He even hid her in the Potions classroom by the time Mr. Potter had reached the door of Rum's office."

"And then he got detention," Jessica felt the need to remind them all again.

"I've joined the ranks of the uncivilized," Casey said, fairly strutting his stuff around the Slytherin Common Room.

"Oh, gosh," Jessica groaned, watching him as she sank further in the chair she had collapsed on in her pretend heart attack. "He's going to be hard to live with now, isn't he?"

Everyone at the table laughed.

"Let's get back to this assignment," Narcissa said.

"Let's not and say we did," Rabastan, who was levitating a parchment, suggested.

"I'm for that idea," Lucius said, flipping through his book randomly.

Narcissa gave up just as easily. "Where is Severus? Maybe we could copy from him."

"He's in the library," Jessica said when everyone at the table looked at her. "Got a pass to the Restricted Section."

"Has he finished the assignment?" Lucius asked.

Jessica nodded, staring up at the ceiling as she spun her Divination textbook around in her hands.

"Is it upstairs?" Rabastan smiled. At the tone of his voice, Jessica sat back up. Seeing where this was leading, she laughed.

"I think so."

"Crabbe," Lucius said to the boy at the table behind him. "Go get Severus' Divination assignment. It's probably in his trunk."

As the four waited for Crabbe to do as ordered, Jessica mused, "Think Crabbe will come back with the right one?"

"No," Rabastan replied. "We'll send him back up when he comes down with the wrong one. He needs the exercise."

The girls giggled. Sure enough, it took Crabbe three tries. By the time he was done, he was dripping with sweat and out of breath.

All four of the kids crowded close to look over the assignment. Staring at it for a good two minutes, Jessica couldn't understand a word of it. She looked from Severus' parchment to her own blank one several times but only ended up with a big, dark spot where she had put her quill several times to start but never did. Silently, she started packing her things.

"Where are you going?" Lucius demanded in a whisper.

"To the library."

"Are you going to rat on us to Severus?" Lucius growled.

Jessica shook her head with a glare. "Of course not. I just am going to ask Severus for help on the assignment. I won't tell him you guys are copying his."

Lucius looked suspicious, but Rabastan stopped him. "Don't worry. She can keep a secret."

Jessica nodded. "I haven't yet ratted you out on cheating in Potions or Transfiguration. And I won't."

With a sigh, she took off. When she reached the Restricted Section in the library, it wasn't hard to spot Severus rifling through a less dangerous looking area, but Jessica of course could not enter to say anything. With a glance over her shoulder, she saw that Madam Pince was stocking a near-by shelf and giving her threatening looks.

Jessica sat at the table closest to the Restricted Section. She opened her Divination Book and then pulled out a few parchments. Every time Madam Pince turned away, Jessica ripped a little piece off a parchment. When she had seven pieces, she crumpled one up. With a wary eye Madam Pince's direction, Jessica aimed and threw a piece to the side of the aisle Severus was down. Waiting a minute with no result, Jessica tried again. Severus was in the first row of shelves. He always became so immersed in the books that, right now, Jessica despaired of getting his attention at all. When another three scraps proved as unsuccessfully as the first, Jessica got an idea. She knew that she wasn't supposed to do this at all, but she felt she had a good excuse.

She knew that taking out her wand would be noticeable by Pince, who was still casting glances at her. The librarian would notice the wand immediately. So Jessica gave a fifth scrap a toss, but before it had a prayer of hitting the ground, she whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa." Her right wrist was resting on the Divination book, and her right hand appeared to be doing so as well. Her fingers, however, were moving, directing the scrap to levitate right in front of Severus' eyes. It took him a minute, but he noticed.

Bending his head to his left, he looked around the shelf. He rolled his eyes when he saw Jessica. She grinned and ended up dropping the scrap in Severus' lap. It went unnoticed by both of them.

When he was over by her table, he whispered, "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, I know that you've got the pass to the Restricted Section, but I can't understand this." She pointed to her Divination textbook.

"Why didn't you just copy my essay?"

She gave him her best blank look.

He shrugged. "It's okay. That's why I put it on top. I know that's what they want."

She shrugged and looked at her book, causing Severus to give a mocking grin. "You felt guilty," he whispered with surprise.

She shrugged again.

"What makes this different than all the other times you copy my homework?"

"Usually, you're standing over me giving me a hard time," she replied.

Severus chuckled but sat across from her.

"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked, gesturing towards the Restricted Section.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. I can get another pass from Professor Rum."

She grinned.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"So, are you and Severus going to Madam Puddifoot's for our first Hogsmeade trip?"

"What? No!" Jessica replied, almost too defensively.

Narcissa Black and Rosemary Mavea laughed.

"What gave you that idea?" Jessica said next, her voice betraying her nervous curiosity.

"Oh, I don't know," Narcissa laughed as she slipped on a sweater over her blouse.

"It could be the fact that you giggled yesterday every time Severus got near you," Rosemary suggested with a wicked smirk.

"I did not giggle!"

"Yes, you did," Bertie Magal piped up, ever helpful. "Well, at least after Severus asked if you wanted to check out Honeydukes first thing today."

"No, I didn't!" Jessica said, plopping back on her bed. She was already dressed. "Anyway, I heard Rabastan saying that he and all the Third Year boys were planning on checking out Rosmerta before looking at that Shrieking Shack. So Severus and I won't be hanging out for long." Jessica grinned at the thought of starting the day with him, causing the girls in the dorm room to laugh.

As it turned out, she and Severus only got to explore Honeydukes for four minutes before Rabastan grabbed Severus away. Narcissa was right there however and saved her from possible immediate retribution from Sirius Black, who had been hot to get her since Casey's incident with Sarah Black.

After buying quite the loot from Honeydukes, all of the Third Year Slytherin girls went over to The Three Broomsticks. They sat across the bar from the Third Year Slytherin boys and gossiped.

Later on, they walked by the Shrieking Shack and found the Third Year Slytherin boys there, talking about ways to get closer. The girls managed to sneak up on the boys and scare the wits out of them, and by the time they had returned to Hogwarts, they were still going back and forth on whether or not the girls had scared the boys.

It was that night that Severus broke his leg.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"It was an accident!"

"Yeah," Rabastan growled. "And so will your broken bone!"

Medley braved the elements and stood between the group of Slytherin boys and Gryffindor boys. Even McGonagall would later congratulate the young professor on standing specifically between Sirius Black and Rabastan Lestrange.

"I'm very sure it was an accident," Medley told Rabastan.

"You would say that! You love the Gryffindors!" Rabastan yelled, getting red in the face. "Big news for you, Professor! Gryffindors can be just as malicious as Slytherins!" Turning back to Sirius, Rabastan added in a low voice, "And you remember that too, Black."

Rabastan stepped back when Dumbledore entered the room. The Slytherins, the Gryffindors, Medley, and McGonagall all stood in the Entrance Hall. It was past curfew by now and the candles burned brightly. Remus, who trailed Dumbledore, rejoined the Gryffindor boys as Dumbledore strode up to the fray.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked McGonagall.

"Severus Snape fell over the edge of the railing. Professor Rum took him up to Madam Pomfrey. His leg is broken."

"How is Mr. Snape doing…considering his previous injuries?" Dumbledore asked carefully, his voice soft.

"That is why Professor Rum is still up there, I assume."

Dumbledore nodded.

Glancing at the boys and then deciding against it, he turned back to McGonagall. "Do we know exactly what happened?"

But one of the boys still answered.

"We were coming down to the dungeons for curfew when Black and his crew pushed Severus over the edge!" Rabastan yelled.

This started the groups up yet again, causing all three professors struggles in order to quiet them.

When they were quiet again, Dumbledore sent all of the kids to bed – with the exceptions of Rabastan and Sirius.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"What did Dumbledore say?" were the first words thrown at Rabastan Lestrange when he entered the crowded Slytherin Common Room twenty minutes later.

"He just wanted to know what happened. Says it was an accident!"

The Common Room erupted into shouts of anger, someone shouting that they should have figured that 'the old crony' would take a Gryffindor's side.

The noise quieted when Professor Rum shouted from the doorway for silence. When all eyes were on him, he spoke:

"I know that everyone is angry right now, but I want all of you to listen in silence," Rum said. "First of all, Severus is going to be all right in a few days. It will take a little longer to heal the bone because he has some other injuries that were not finished healing. But he will be fine.

"Secondly, I know that none of you agree with the Headmaster's decision, but I want all of you to respect it." He launched into a speech about not seeking revenge, though no one listened, and Jessica knew that Rum knew that they wouldn't. When he finally left, the crowd was a little less angry but already plotting revenge.

And Jessica and Casey worked at trying to control the violence without making it seem like they were working against the crowd. By the end of the night, Casey's genius at spells and Jessica's ability to coordinate a play of innocence had won out. Casey was pleased, but Jessica knew that this was hardly the end. And she knew that she couldn't control it.

But, at least, Jessica and Casey had won the first round.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Severus Snape woke up to see Jessica Ziners leaning over him.

"Can't I ever get away from you?" he said.

She chuckled. "No." She started to pour something into a cup. The bottle the liquid was coming from caused Severus to cringe.

"Not another one of those."

"Professor Rum thinks this will be your last," she said in an encouraging voice. He sat up, and she handed the cup to Severus. She watched him take large, painful gulps. When he was nearing finish, she took another cup that had already been sitting on the stand next to the bed. She exchanged the cups when he was done. It was water, and Severus took grateful sips. The water helped put the rest of the nasty tasting stuff down his throat and served to get rid of the taste of it. She took that cup too, and it joined the first cup on the nightstand.

Severus gave her another look. "What are you doing here anyway?"

She grinned. "I'm actually here on Dumbledore's suggestion, believe it or not. He knows I want to become an Auror, and he said part of that is to know how to heal someone. He thought helping to heal you might be a good experience for me."

Severus nodded at her before looking around the Hospital Ward. Madam Pomfrey was tending to a kid at the other end of the ward. Other than that, the place was deserted.

"Most kids are still asleep," Jessica explained. "Goodness knows the Slytherins are. We were up until four in the morning."

"Why?"

Jessica, who had been looking at the kid at the other end of the ward, turned back to Severus. Her grin had disappeared, and she asked in a quiet whisper, "Did Sirius really push you?"

Severus looked away angrily. "Does it matter?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it does."

"Why?" he turned back to her in surprise.

"Because something's going to start, and I don't know if I can stop it and…and I just have to know if what Sirius did to you was on purpose or an accident."

Not realizing right away what she was talking about, Severus nodded. "Yeah, he did push me over…," he trailed off, looking at her before asking, "Are the Slytherins getting revenge?"

Jessica glanced at Madam Pomfrey. She was now looking at them, so Jessica turned back and shook her head at Severus. "No. I don't know." She stood up. "I'm going to go see if Professor Rum is awake. I'll come by later."

Severus nodded. "Okay, I will see you later."

Jessica started to leave but stopped and pointed beside Severus' bed, near where her feet had been. "There's your bag. I packed the books for your Monday classes and some of the other books that were in your trunk. Casey also added one of his books, thinking you might be interested in it." She grinned. "Actually, he said he wanted you to glance at it regardless." She shrugged. "I don't know why. He's a weirdo." She smiled and waved at him before finally leaving.

Severus waved back with a shake of his head. He picked up his bag and set it gently on his lap. His leg didn't hurt anymore, but he was still nervous about moving it. His first question to Professor Rum last night had been if this would affect his walking situation from earlier this school year. He said that he didn't think so, but Severus was still nervous. It had been scary facing the prospect of never being able to walk again. He was given the gift back, but now he was terrified more than ever of losing the ability.

Looking through the books in his bag for the one that didn't belong, he found what he was looking for at the very bottom. He pulled it out. The title of the book was _The Art of Legilimency_. Opening the book, he discovered that it had been checked out from Hogwarts library yesterday.

Severus knew the book backwards and forwards. It was the one he had used in his original discovery of the art. Why did Casey want him to look at it?

His question was answered when he turned the next page. There was a note from Casey there.

_Severus,_

_What do you know about Legilimency and Occlumency? I've read this book backwards and forwards, but I want to know more._

_Casey_

Severus was surprised but guessed a moment later that he should not be that surprised. After all, Jessica had told Severus repeatedly that Casey was a lot like him in his pursuit of knowledge.

She had also said that both of them were a bit like sticks in the mud, but he had ignored her at that point.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

By the end of the week, the Slytherins had not reacted to Saturday's incident. Severus was out of the Hospital Ward. Oddly, he had a limp. All of the Gryffindors, including Lily, suspected that the limp was added for effect. Most Slytherins suspected the same, but they didn't argue. No one suspected that he really did have to limp.

"I hate to say this," Julie Rin said during supper early in the second week of waiting, "but their lack of response is making me nervous."

"Did you ask your brother?" Gideon Prewett inquired.

She nodded. "Yeah, but it was in front of Professor Medley. Jeff claimed not to know anything. Medley told him it was his responsibility as Head Boy to find out, to which my brother responded that Slytherins were smart enough to keep him not only out of the loop but too far away from it to even have a clue."

The Gryffindors grumbled as they again glanced across the Great Hall. A number of Slytherins were staring at them as they talked but all of them turned away quickly when they noticed that the majority of Gryffindors were looking at them. Suddenly, a number of the Slytherins started laughing quite loudly. A few of them were pointing or gesturing towards the Gryffindor table.

"Potter," Lauren Melbrook said. "You're friendly with Ziners. Why don't you ask her?"

"I'm not getting near a Slytherin without an escort of ten very experienced Aurors," James said. A week ago, this declaration might have brought James jabbing for being a coward. Today, it brought some nervous laughter. The Gryffindors were all nervous but none more so than Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter. Since the four had been together at the time of the incident, it was agreed all around that they were probably going to be the primary targets.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

A similar conversation was going on at the Head Table, though with a slightly less nervous tone.

"You must admit," Professor Flitwick was saying. "It really is quite well done of them. They are making the Gryffindors paranoid."

"Have you had another talk with them?" McGonagall snapped at Rum again.

Rum didn't respond, which had been his habit starting three days prior.

"Talking to them is pointless, Minerva," Stephen Medley said. "They're going to seek revenge regardless of what Gary says."

Most were surprised that Stephen had defended his nemesis. Gary, on the other hand, didn't appear to realize that Stephen had even spoken. He just kept looking over the members of his house and eating his food.

"Our job," Stephen continued after a minute of looking back and forth between the table of Gryffindors and the table of Slytherins, "is to try to prevent the revenge from getting out of hand."

The conversation continued, but Gary remained silent. It was about ten minutes later when he finally spoke.

"The Slytherin Quidditch Team is missing. All except for Jeff Rin."

The professors all looked over at him before looking at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, the team members were missing, including Jessica Ziners. Stephen glanced around the table again.

"Casey Ziners is gone too."

Wordlessly, Dumbledore, Rum, and Medley all got up. With instructions for the rest of the staff to stay put until all of the kids were gone, the three professors left the Great Hall.

"I'll check the Slytherin House and the rest of the dungeons," Gary said and took off to the dungeons. Stephen and Albus decided to check the Gryffindor House. They were on the Third Floor when they ran into the Slytherin Quidditch Team, Casey in tow.

"Hello, Professors," Rodolophus Lestrange was the first to greet. The rest of the team and Casey all joined in kind.

"May I ask where you were?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

"Sure," Rodolophus said but quieted.

So Dumbledore prompted. "Where were you?"

The group smiled at the lame grammatical joke before Rodolophus replied, "Well…if you can keep a secret…we were making Captain Rin a birthday card." Rodolophus nodded at Jessica. The Third Year reached inside her robes and pulled out a card. She handed it to Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore took it with a smile and looked it over, showing Professor Medley as he did so. On the front, it had a Quidditch Pitch with a Slytherin Quidditch player that bore some resemblance to Jeff Rin flying about. When you opened it, it had the words 'Happy Birthday' blinking, and it was hand-signed by each of the team members. The ink was even fresh.

When Dumbledore handed it back, Jessica said, "We also filled out an order form for his birthday present. You see, since it's his last year and all, we thought we would do something extra for his birthday. We are each chipping in and are buying him a cloak. It has his name on it as well as the Slytherin insignia."

"Yeah," Bellatrix continued for her. "We had to do it away from all of the other Slytherins because we don't want Jeff to have a clue what we're doing. He knows we're doing something but otherwise, he'll be surprised."

The team and Casey all chuckled.

Medley gestured towards the Second Year curiously. "Casey's not a team member," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm bearing the money and input of the rest of the house," Casey said. "We figured it would be a bigger surprise if comes from the whole House. He'll figure it's going to be something dorky from just the team, but in actuality, it will be something expensive from the whole House."

Both professors nodded slowly. Stephen tried to find some hole to poke, but he couldn't find one. He turned to Dumbledore. The Headmaster was looking at him. Stephen shrugged helplessly. Neither of them had a reason to keep the team any longer.

Once released from questioning, the team continued their journey. Watching them over his shoulder, Stephen whispered, "They're not even trying to make a fast getaway."

"They've been planning for a little over a week. They doubt they'll be caught," Dumbledore replied, looking at them too.

Both of the professors proceeded up to Gryffindor Tower. They were still examining the entrance when the Gryffindor kids started to return from supper.

"Is something wrong, Professors?" Julie Rin said after she managed to push through the crowd.

"I don't know…" Stephen trailed off when Julie, on her way to the professors, suddenly slipped. Her feet flew out in front of her, and she went sliding on the floor the rest of the way to Dumbledore and Medley.

The action was met with silence.

Lynn Reger, one of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Chasers, took a step towards Julie. She walked very carefully, but it didn't help. She slipped. Stephen looked at Dumbledore. Shrugging, Stephen decided to attempt it. He, however, managed to get around the whole area in front of the Fat Lady portrait without slipping. Fabian Prewett attempted the area, but he was as unsuccessful as the two girls, who were still both on the floor because all attempts to get up failed. Fabian took a post on the floor with the girls.

"It was the Slytherins," one child exclaimed, starting an enthusiastic response. Both Dumbledore and Medley sighed before they started forbidding the children from moving from the hall.

Glancing over the students, Stephen started to notice that they began to itch, a few starting to turn red in the face and swell in the areas that itched.

"I better go get Pomfrey," Stephen whispered to Albus.

"Retrieve Professor Flitwick as well," Albus instructed to Stephen before he left.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The next morning, the Slytherin table was in very high spirits, spirits which only got higher upon the entrance of each Gryffindor. Casey was the center of the attention at the table. He had been the genius behind the spells in front of the Gryffindor House entrance. It was a series of spells that caused only current students of Gryffindor House to slip and to develop very irritating rashes (that were very good at attacking _very interesting_ places), things that affected no one else. The professors had finally vanquished the spell after five and a half-hours.

Casey had actually been led up to Dumbledore's office at about 11:30 last night, in middle of the spell-breaking attempts, and inquired on. He knew nothing, he said, and stuck to that story the whole time through. This morning, the Slytherin Quidditch Team figured they would be led up to questioning, but Casey's experience gave them high hopes of getting through this without detention.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sure enough, through the morning each member of the Slytherin Quidditch Team was individually summoned out of his or her classes and up to Albus' office. Jessica Ziners was the last called, being summoned near the end of lunch and led to the office by Minerva.

Overly cocky at the moment, Miss Ziners sat in the chair across from Albus' desk and propped her feet on the desk. One look from Minerva had her removing them though. She sat up with a smile.

"You probably know why you are here, Miss Ziners," he started.

"There are a million _possible_ reasons," she said, "but I can deduce what reason summoned me today. The incident last night at the entrance of the Gryffindor Tower."

Albus nodded slowly. Jessica kept glancing between him and Minerva, her brilliantly changing eyes cycling slowly through their colors.

"There is one thing that has me very curious about the incident in front of Gryffindor Tower."

She looked back at him. "What is it?"

"How did the students who did the deed know where the entrance to Gryffindor Tower was?"

The corner of her mouth curled into a smile that reminded Albus of another Third Year Slytherin, one that he had talked to in passing early this morning – Severus Snape. Judging by the amount of time the two spent together, the fact that one had picked up the mannerisms of the other was not surprising.

"Actually, that's simple to answer," she said as though she were a wise teacher. "If one is curious enough, there are certain Gryffindors that are easy to trail without them knowing."

"Interesting that you know this," Minerva said from her post by Albus' desk.

She cast Minerva a look barely hiding her disdain. "Actually, not that interesting. Anyone that is around a professional Auror enough would pick up on that little tip, whether or not they consciously know it."

"Do you know where the entrance to Gryffindor Tower is?" Minerva asked.

Jessica shook her head. "Actually, no, I don't. Never been that curious about it, I guess." She looked each professor in the eyes, her eyes changing to a green and staying there for a moment before continuing their cycle.

Albus looked at her for a minute, a look that she returned confidently.

"Your friends seem in very high spirits today," Albus commented.

She nodded. "You bet we are. To be honest with you, Sir, we don't feel bad for what happened to the Gryffindors last night. None of them or their best friends ended up in the Hospital Ward with a broken leg, so they should feel lucky. They just had a long, uncomfortable night. It could have been worse." For the first time, she broke direct eye contact and looked at her lap. She whispered, "A lot worse." She looked back up, confident and smirking once more. "I'm not going to feel bad for them.

"But, if we're done here, Sir, I have a class to get to. So does Professor McGonagall. Transfiguration for the Third Years starts in ten minutes."

Jessica looked at Minerva expectantly.

"You are dismissed, Miss Ziners," Albus said. "Professor McGonagall will be down in time for class."

Once Jessica was released from the office, Minerva exclaimed. "She is lying through her teeth to you, Albus!"

Albus nodded. "But we cannot do anything. We have no evidence." It had been quite brilliantly done by them. They certainly had motive, but they organized the retaliation in such a fashion that it would not be linked to them at all. And now Albus had no doubt who had designed the scheme. She may have gotten the idea from her brother or Severus, but the whole execution was designed by Jessica. She would be a very formidable opponent.

Albus wondered if she was currently an opponent. Outside of the Gryffindor-Slytherin feud. Albus wondered if she was his own opponent in some way. It was something to ponder.

Especially since Albus had gotten the distinct impression that she had argued for this less dangerous retaliation and won the whole house over with her argument.

It was a fight he was positive she would not win again. The question remained, would she want to win it the next time?

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Jessica walked into Transfiguration not five minutes after her meeting with Dumbledore. Severus was the only one in there. Intending to go sit next to him, she was partway there when she stopped mid-step. Something was wrong. It just felt wrong. By the way Severus was looking at her, he noticed that she was sensing some danger. Calmly, without turning towards the door, she said, "Rabastan, stay out and keep everyone out."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" she ordered.

Rabastan looked around. When he gasped, Severus looked at him. Rabastan was looking up at the ceiling so Severus followed his gaze. There were a thousand spiders crawling on the ceiling.

Someone bumped Rabastan into the room. It was at that moment that all the spiders fell.

To be continued…


	18. The Heights of War

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura

**Chapter 18: The Heights of War**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). I'm making no money whatsoever off this. Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author's Note:** 'Blatching' is a term that I refer to near the end of the chapter. It is an actual Harry Potter reference – it is a Quidditch term that refers to a player flying to collide intentionally with another player. Got to love the Harry Potter Lexicon, eh?

**Timeline**:

Overall – Jessica and crew are in their Third Year. Casey and crew are in their Second Year. Specifically, they are all about twenty minutes after the end of chapter 17.

**Quote:**

"'You must never feel badly about making mistakes,' explained Reason quietly, 'as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.'"

Norton Juster, _The Phantom Tollbooth_

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"Death."

This declaration, said with very serious vehemence, caused even Lucius to start laughing.

"In time, Jesse," Bellatrix said with a grin of her own. They were in the Hospital Ward. Jessica, Severus, and Rabastan were sitting side-by-side on the same bed, covered with bumps where the frightened spiders had bit them. Each bump was covered with white ointment. The three kids were looking vicious and were hardly moving because every time they did, they started to itch.

"Why can't Pomfrey heal them immediately?" Narcissa asked, looking closely at one of Rabastan's more nasty bumps.

"Because the spiders were fed a potion to cause the bite victims to take longer to heal," Casey replied. "My guess is that Brice Longbottom had something to do with it. He's nearly as good as I am at Potions."

"Death is too good for them," Rabastan growled.

"Can we hurt them this time?" Salazar Snape asked.

"Yes," the three students on the bed said in dark unison.

This caused the whole group in the Ward to laugh.

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When the entirety of the Gryffindor Third Year showed up to the Hospital Ward after breakfast two days after the spider incident, Madam Pomfrey was afraid to ask. But, alas, she had to, and she did, even though she could actually see part of the problem. They all had boils all over their faces. They also all had boils all over their bodies. When Madam Pomfrey was able to determine that a potion had done the deed, she informed Professor Dumbledore, who in turn told the other professors.

"I'm sorry, Minerva, but none of my ingredients _or_ my potions are missing. Not that they would have had to use them."

"What do you mean, Gary?" Stephen asked.

"The ingredients for this potion are simple enough. Any intelligent student could have located them in the Forbidden Forest."

"We'll just ask Hagrid who was in the Forest," Minerva said.

"Hagrid cannot cover the entire Forest with his surveillance. Either way, it would not have been unusual to see either Miss Ziners or Mr. Snape at the edges of the Forest at any given time for they are there often. It would not be fair to convict them on a habit they had long before this little war."

"Gary, you must admit that your Slytherins had the best motive," Sprout said.

Gary nodded. "I admit it freely, but I also realize that they are not dumb enough to get caught."

Minerva and Stephen both looked desperate to come up with another argument, but they found they had no more.

Gary, on the other hand, had a worry. The one thing he could not figure out about how _his_ Slytherins had pulled this off was how they got the potions to the desired beverages. Albus had already questioned the kitchen house elves, and none of them could account for the action.

But Gary had a feeling who it was.

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"It wasn't me, Professor. I promised to be careful with my magic, and I am being careful."

"Jessica," Gary sighed.

She looked away for a minute in thought before she said, "Let's say for a minute, that the Slytherins really had done this – I'm not saying we did, but let's say for a minute, we did pull this off. _If_ we had done this, someone other than me is able enough and smooth enough to do this in front of an entire Head Table full of professors. Actually, this person is probably smoother than me," she said with a laugh and fond smile.

Again, Gary sighed. On some level, he had rather hoped it wasn't his Slytherins that had done this, but Jessica's little 'hypothetical' had refuted his very foolish hope.

"Well, hypothetically, if this were the Slytherins, is there a Third Year that can try to curtail this prank war?"

Jessica looked at him for a moment in silence before looking down. She didn't respond.

Gary started to say something more but stopped himself. A flash of remembrance hit him in one of those inopportune moments. He was being the teacher here, as well he should be, but suddenly, he remembered very much what it meant to be a Slytherin. What it was like to be a Slytherin during the time before a war. Being a Slytherin from a family where you didn't want to be who you were taught to be. Being confused on what was right. Feeling helpless to stop the tide. Because at 13, you were helpless. In your mind, you may not be 13, but your body was, your maturity was, and that's what stopped the world from taking you seriously.

No matter how serious the message in your mind.

There was a knock on the door to his office.

"Who is it?" Gary barked.

There was some hedging before a loud mumble, "Um…it's Rabastan, Sir! I was wondering if you were done with Jessica yet! Quidditch practice starts in five minutes!"

Gary looked back at Jessica to see her looking hopefully at him. He nodded, and she tore off out the door, glad to be free from him. As she left, he heard Rabastan ask, "What did he want?" Gary never heard her response.

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The boils didn't heal in time for the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch Game, and Julie Rin was able to talk the professors into postponing for a month so their Seeker could heal.

However, in the meantime, a group of Gryffindors was readying their response prank. They were watched closely by the Slytherins, but the Slytherins couldn't determine what the Gryffindors had up their sleeves. The Slytherins did not travel alone at any point. If they went to the library, it was with two others. If they went to the bathroom, they brought a friend to stand guard. If they were in detention, another got detention, and Professor Rum, though not approving of the war, understood the situation and managed to place the Slytherins in detention together.

Peeves at first had great joy in startling the Slytherins, but this only lasted for the first two days. The Bloody Baron ran him off after that, much to the Gryffindors' disappointment.

Finally, four days after the boils and the day the Quidditch match should have been, they struck. The time was two a.m., and the target was three Slytherins. The trick was beautiful. Vengeance in a very fine form. There was no way it could turn on them. No way…

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"Red Caps are the little blood-loving gnomes…

"Well, actually, they look more like a goblin and a dwarf had a kid…"

"Shut up."

"Hey, he just made a joke."

"I don't care. We have an exam on Monday. Okay, so Red Caps are the little blood-loving goblin-dwarf like creatures. And Kappas are the sea-monkeys found in Japan usually."

"No, Mongolia."

"No, it's Japan."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes," both boys said in unison.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "My brother and my best friend. The both of ya are impossible, ya know?"

Casey and Severus both glared at her, causing her to laugh.

Suddenly, the three came to a halt. They were in the Entrance Hall now, about to turn towards the dungeons, when they heard a noise in the Great Hall. They exchanged glances before looking towards the closed doors of the Great Hall again. There was another noise. Something was going on in there.

Severus went towards the Great Hall causing the other two to follow him. He put his ear to the large door, but he shook his head after a moment. He pressed the door open on Casey's urging. Peaking in through the crack for just a few seconds, he finally pulled away. He mouthed the word 'nothing' to the other two. Casey gestured for him to open the door.

"And you thought I was too nosy," Jessica whispered quietly to her brother.

Casey stuck out his tongue at her.

Severus pushed open the door. He stuck in his head to look around. As he was about to turn his head to report to the other two, someone grabbed Severus by the collar and dragged him inside. The other two pushed inside without question to save their friend.

Jessica couldn't quite tell what happened after that because she blacked out for a few minutes. When she awoke, it was because all the blood in her body was now in her head. She focused on her surroundings. Something wasn't right. It was when she saw Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Fabian Prewett, and Sarah Black standing below her that she figured it out.

She was hanging upside down on the ceiling of the Great Hall. Casey was on one side of her and Severus on the other side. They were all upside down, so there was another interesting problem. And it was worse for Jessica.

"I guess now Snivellus can get into his girlfriend's underpants," Pettigrew said with a snicker.

"You better hope that we don't get down!" Severus yelled.

"Yep, that's precisely what we're hoping," Sirius said with an evil grin. "At least, not until breakfast."

The group laughed.

Severus and Casey grabbed for their wands suddenly. Jessica, staring at the floor below them, didn't need to. She knew they didn't have them.

Sirius held their wands out with a laugh. "Missing something?" he asked.

Two things happened right after that, at the same exact time. James rushed Sirius, screaming, "Don't!" At the same time, Jessica held out both of her hands.

"Accio wands!" she screamed, louder than James.

Jessica's magic beat James' physical attempt to stop it. The three wands flew through the air and right into Jessica's hand.

There was utter silence, but it didn't faze Jessica. She handed Casey and Severus their wands before screaming at the open Great Hall doors.

"Accio Practice Broom!"

There was a loud bang from the Entrance Hall followed by a broom's entrance into the hall. The broom's appearance was quickly followed by a yelled spell on each side of her, two more bangs, and the appearance of two more brooms.

But by the time the boys' brooms hovered in the air below their heads, the kids were bent and reversing the spells suspending them. By the time they were on their brooms, the Gryffindors were gone.

Jessica didn't pause to wonder about them but flew out of the Great Hall and had returned her broom to the storage room in the Entrance Hall by the time the boys arrived. The brooms were in the closet and the kids were disappearing through the doors to the dungeons by the time McGonagall and Dumbledore were starting down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, quickly followed by Flitwick, Medley, and Sprout.

And the kids thought that they were home free until they ran right into Rum.

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"We had no choice, Professor Rum!"

"And they never removed your wands from your robes?"

Jessica glanced at Severus before nodding towards Professor Rum. The glance was so obvious that Severus became noticeably worried about it, but he hadn't needed to, because, in actuality, the glance was not for his benefit but for Professor Rum. While both knew of Ziners' unusual power, Severus did not know that Gary knew of it.

"Sir," Casey said, "you can't tell Dumbledore and them about it. It will bring up…" Casey glanced at Severus and Jessica before altering, "It will make us look like tattle-tells."

"It will also add heat to the fire," Gary agreed. "I will not talk to the other professors under one condition. You do not speak of it to the other Slytherins."

"Ah, come on!" all three said in shocked unison.

"The story will come out anyways," Casey pointed out.

"And we will look like cowards," Severus said.

"Plus, you weren't the one with your underwear showing!" Jessica said as she threw herself back in the chair with an angry humph.

At another time, Gary would have been amused to see Severus fight a smirk, but tonight was not that night.

Because the kids had a point. Well, two of them did. Jessica was just whining.

"If I cannot speak of this to the other professors," Gary looked directly at Jessica, "certain facts may come out. I will need to downplay them."

Jessica growled in frustration. "It isn't fair," she mumbled.

"Rare is it fair when we are in this building," Casey replied.

Gary merely nodded and sent the kids on their way. After they were well towards the entrance to the House, Gary walked out of the dungeons and met Albus just as the Headmaster was about to enter the dungeons.

"Where were you, Gary?" Minerva, who was practically on Albus' heels, demanded when she saw the Potions Master. "Surely you heard the yells."

"I was buried behind my work, and it took me a moment to come out," Gary replied.

Minerva gave him a skeptical look.

"Are you accusing me of something, Minerva?"

She nodded. "Covering for your Slytherins."

Gary ignored her completely. "Did you discover the source of the noises?"

Albus shook his head, silent as a lamb. He didn't look suspicious, but Gary didn't buy the act for a minute.

"We were just going to check on what you might have heard in the dungeons," Stephen, standing a few steps behind Albus and Minerva, said, speaking up for the first time.

Gary shook his head. "I heard nothing out of the ordinary."

Minerva started to reply, but Albus held up his hand.

"No. We found nothing, so we will accuse no one of anything," Albus said to her, his voice having the ring of finality to it, forcing the rest of the professors to relent. They all dispersed back to their rooms then, Albus lingering with Gary. Minerva glanced back, hesitating a moment before finally giving up and going up the stairs.

"Your office," Gary decided after a moment. The men walked there in companionable silence, neither one hurrying. They had hurried much of their young lives only to discover in their old age that not every single moment in one's life was an emergency.

When they entered the office, Albus sat behind his desk and Gary took one of the visitor's chairs. Settling in it, Gary sighed and was quiet a long time. He looked over at one of the bookshelves. Even though it looked packed with books, he knew that on this one, there was the occasional photo album filled with not only pictures from Albus' life but also pictures of lives that were not his, lives that had been lived, some already departed from this earth. Some lives were short but full of pictures and some lives were long with very few pictures. Gary's own life existed in one of those albums sitting on that very shelf. Gary never knew why he gave the book to Albus for safekeeping except that Gary couldn't handle it near himself for long periods. Celerina had made it for him and sent it by owl for his birthday a few years past. He had looked it over once and then asked Albus to hold on to it. Albus took it without question even though Gary was sure that he didn't understand. The Headmaster knew why, but he couldn't understand.

Gary turned towards the window next to the shelf. The stars were burning brightly in the night sky. It was perfectly clear out tonight, which Gary found amusing. He wished that the rest of the night had followed the suit of the sky.

Finally, Gary turned to Albus.

"I know what happened tonight. I ran into the three Slytherins involved on my way out to check on the noises. From the story they told me, the Gryffindors were the troublemakers here, but we cannot punish them."

Albus didn't reply, so Gary continued.

"They asked me not to tell you, and I would normally have kept this to myself, but the story may come out, and I want to let you know what occurred."

Albus nodded but remained silent.

Gary sighed, almost mimicking a frustrated student. Albus had that affect on people, and he knew how to wield it powerfully.

Gary told him the story as it was related to him, sidetracking for a moment when it came to how the Slytherins managed to possess their wands still, giving him the story as he thought it had actually occurred. When questioned if Jessica's wandless magic would have surprised Severus, Gary shook his head and told Albus that Jessica had revealed her secrets to her fellow Third Year, but beyond him, no other child knew about it. At least, that was what Gary thought.

"She is not a danger, Albus," Gary finished.

Albus nodded. "It does not sound like she is."

"She was merely desperate and used her powers nonviolently."

"You do not need to convince me, Gary."

Gary nodded before shaking his head. "Why did I ever allow Madeline to be my teaching assistant?" he suddenly asked. Albus was visibly taken aback by the question. He did not reply immediately, and, when he did, it was slow and quiet.

"She was at a hard time in her life, and she was the best student you ever had."

Gary wasn't looking at Albus but rather at a random spot in space next to Albus' desk. "If I had not taken her on, I could be at home in my lab or in an Unspeakable lab at the Ministry or in some other country."

"If you had not taken her on, Jessica Ziners would be very alone."

"And now I bear a burden that even I know not the weight of," Gary responded, his voice hoarse. "I must go to bed. I have the idiots tomorrow morning." Gary stood up.

"It is not nice to call the Ravenclaws idiots," Albus replied, unsuccessfully suppressing a smile.

Gary chuckled softly before leaving Albus' office.

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Jessica did hide the part of her wandless magic in the previous night's escapade, and it was almost immediately apparent that the Gryffindors from the night before had not spoken of their deed to their housemates. The only reason the story had gotten out this morning was that on an early morning trip to the bathroom, Rabastan Lestrange had heard parts of the story from Peeves. Currently, the ghosts were blabbing the story to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Nearly Headless Nick was remaining quiet, probably on the request of last night's evildoers, but the story would not go unspoken at the Gryffindor table if Peeves had anything to do about it.

Luckily, Peeves had not been witness to the wandless magic, so the story was unclear at that spot initially. It would be the Bloody Baron that started a rumor that the Gryffindors had forgotten one wand (it started out being Casey's, but then became Severus' or Jessica's throughout the day, depending on who you talked to), so that was how the deed was done. Either way, thanks to rumors, the variations of the story were far and wide, so how the three had managed to retrieve their wands was completely uncertain.

The whispers of revenge were rampant at the Slytherin table, and, across the Great Hall, the Gryffindors' next move was being discussed. At the Head Table however, Gary was again avoiding the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, not even looking his direction for the entire breakfast meal. Albus would catch the young man, though, before he followed Gary to the dungeons.

In the antechamber behind the Great Hall, Stephen's words burst forth.

"Have you even heard the story of what happened last night? They did not forget Casey's wand!"

Albus nodded calmly. "Yes, I heard, and, yes, I don't believe that they forgot his wand either. Gary spoke with me last night and revealed to me the true story of what happened, as he heard it from the three Slytherins. From this likely tale, I do believe that Miss Ziners is still not a danger."

Stephen did not look like he wanted to settle with that, but he obeyed Albus without question and left it alone.

All the professors watched the students closely for signs of pranks to come, but the students were very cunning in executing their pranks.

Bugs, boils, and itches. Fur, tails, and yellow eyes. Beards on girls and breasts on boys. The professors saw it all in the space of a couple weeks. At the end of the current week, the rescheduled game between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins was to be held, and all of the professors were on edge for it.

A few days before the game however, there was one prank that struck a deep nerve in Jessica Ziners and an even deeper curiosity of her in Stephen Medley.

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The Third Year Slytherins were walking to Divination, just passing the Transfiguration classroom. Sirius Black and James Potter were both evil-grinned standing at one end of the hallway, looking at Jessica Ziners and Severus Snape at the other end. Suppressing their smiles, they walked towards the Slytherins. Just as they were passing them in the hallway, Sirius bumped into Jessica. He made some snide comment to her and then started laughing as he and James continued. A second later, Jessica Ziners emitted a blood-curdling scream.

Everyone in the hallway turned to her, causing her scream to stop immediately. Professor Medley and Professor McGonagall ran into the hallway. With one very determined look, Jessica reached inside her robe and took a snake out. She held the snake out to Professor Medley. It was wrapping around her arm, almost as though it had found a new home. Jessica never took her eyes off it, but though her fear was almost a tangible thing, she never once squeezed the snake into an attack. Medley took the snake from her and backed away a step, seeming to sense that Jessica needed space. It was then that she turned her head and looked down the hallway. There were gasps when the other students saw her eyes. They were unnatural – almost a pure red, as if someone had painted her pupils with red oil paint. Only mere seconds after the gasps, Jessica realized that everyone was staring at her. It was then that her eyes started changing, very slowly cycling through their colors.

Jessica looked back at Medley. There was a short moment of silence and no movement before Medley spoke:

"Mr. Snape, can you please take Miss Ziners to the Hospital Ward to make sure she wasn't bit?"

"I wasn't bit." Jessica's voice was a whisper, something that wouldn't have been heard had the hallway not been so silent.

"Just get checked anyway, okay, Miss Ziners? For my peace of mind?"

She nodded, the movement jerky. Severus had to tug on her elbow to get her to follow him.

Medley and McGonagall looked at each other in surprise.

"I'm going to wait a minute then bring the snake up so Madam Pomfrey knows what kind it is."

There was some sort of silent body communication exchanged between the professors, causing Medley to nod before following the two students to the Hospital Ward.

McGonagall looked back at the crowd. "Get moving!" she yelled when they remained immobile.

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"It was pure terror, Professor."

"A phobia," Pomfrey brushed off, but Stephen shook his head.

"No, it wasn't. With a phobia, she would have screamed and probably started stripping in the hallway until the snake was gone. But no, she removed it calmly. But there was no mistaking the terror on that girl's face. And there was another thing…" Stephen trailed off.

"What was it, Stephen?" Albus prodded quietly.

Stephen looked at the other end of the Hospital Ward. Jessica Ziners lay in the bed, on top of the sheets. She was staring so intently at the ceiling that one might have suspected something was going on up there, but Stephen highly doubted she even realized what she was doing.

"She handled the snake with the calm of someone who has handled one before. Combining that with her terror and her past with her father, I have to wonder…"

The three were distracted from their conversation when Casey Ziners pushed his way into the Hospital Ward. He looked at the professors then around the ward until he spotted his sister at the other end. He stormed down the ward to her.

Stephen grinned at that. "Oh, to have a sibling," he said with a laugh.

"That," Pomfrey pointed to the boy, "is not normal. They have an odd relationship."

Stephen chuckled. "Odd relationship for two very odd kids. Seems fitting. Anyhow, I've got to go before my students blow up the room in my absence."

He bid the two a farewell.

Albus looked down the ward to see the siblings talking, wondering the same thing Stephen had wondered. Albus walked to the brother and sister.

"It's okay, Case. I just wasn't ready for it."

Casey started to respond but stopped when his eyes caught sight of Albus.

"Hi, Professor," he said by way of letting his sister know that they were no longer alone.

She looked over at Albus before sitting up on the bed.

"I'm fine, Professor. Can I go?"

Albus nodded slowly. "You can, but may I ask a question first?"

Jessica looked down in aggravation and sighed dramatically before saying with a strained voice, "Sure, Professor."

"Have you had a past incident with a snake?"

Jessica's possible answer was cut off by Casey's. "Oh, Jack Ronson just stuck one down her pants once when we were younger."

Albus had glanced at the boy when he answered, but then looked back at the 13-year old girl. She still wasn't looking at him.

"May I go, Professor?" she asked again, staring at the bottom edge of the headmaster's robes.

He nodded. "Yes, you may."

She couldn't get out of there fast enough. Her brother followed at a slower pace.

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"Ziners, you okay?"

Jessica didn't even bother to take her nose out of her book to answer Rabastan. She merely mumbled, "Yeah," before continuing her reading. Her pretend reading anyway. She hadn't turned a page in an hour, Severus knew. He knew because he had been watching her.

She had been questioned by many of the Slytherins, most questions inquiring why she had reacted so strongly, but Jessica refused to give more than small, generic answers. Casey had also been questioned, but he only shrugged.

Severus had not questioned, understanding the need for keeping your greatest fears your greatest secrets. He was, however, worried about her. The rescheduled Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match was in two days. This prank had been unintentionally very personal with Jessica. Given the situational power of revenge that the upcoming game would offer, what exactly would Jessica do? And would she regret as deeply as she had when she had killed her father?

Then again, Sirius Black and James Potter weren't on the Gryffindor team.

But in the end would that make any difference to the limits Jessica was willing to go?

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Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Tower, Sirius Black bit the bait.

"What?" he growled at the table behind James Potter. James turned to see that he had spoken to Lily Evans.

"What?" she returned innocently.

"Look," Sirius growled, "I didn't know how the chit would react, so lay off me."

He slammed his book shut, tossed it in his bag, and left the Common Room. James and Remus quickly followed since the Gryffindors were as wary of being alone now as the Slytherins were.

Both James and Remus had to run to keep up with Sirius. Sirius had suffered a growth spurt during the summer and now stood about two inches taller than his friends. His long strides were now rather difficult to keep up with, especially when they were spurred on with emotion.

When they finally caught a pace with him, James and Remus, each flanking Sirius's sides, looked upon their friend's face and then glanced at each other.

"I dare say, I think our friend has a guilty conscience," Remus commented with a small grin towards James.

Ignoring him completely, Sirius suddenly spun on his heel towards James, almost knocking James down. He grabbed the collar of James' robes with one hand to keep him upright, but he didn't let go when he spoke.

"Ziners isn't just a freak, is she? She is a freak, a real freak, isn't she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sirius," James responded as he tried to get his robes out of Sirius' hand.

But Sirius wasn't about to let go. "No, James, I think you do."

James was aggravated. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't see any choice. However, maybe he could give it a shading of the truth.

"All I know is that she isn't all that normal. I don't know exactly what though."

Sirius didn't look like he wanted to accept that, but he did, believing that was all James knew. He let him go. "What's with her eyes?" he asked quietly.

James glanced at Remus, who still stood behind Sirius. He had been watching the physical exchange between James and Sirius with a readied action to prevent Sirius if it had gone past collar grabbing, but now Remus' eyes went to James. He wanted to know too.

"They signify her emotions," James relented with this question, knowing what he knew of the truth wouldn't hurt here. "I don't know which color goes with which emotion though, so don't ask."

"Red is fear."

Both Sirius and James looked at Remus. The boy shrugged. "Well, I could get that much from her face this afternoon. She is terrified of snakes."

Sirius smirked. "Who would have figured that? A Slytherin scared of snakes?"

All three chuckled.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The next morning, Severus was glad to see that Jessica was no longer a silent, scared version of herself. But he wasn't sure he liked the new Jessica better.

She woke up piping mad.

Severus was forced to sit quietly during the breakfast conversation, but it wasn't as bad as it might have sounded. Because his fears of the previous night were forgotten, he was able to take a certain sadistic glee in the plans they formed during the morning meal.

"And Jessica, you'll have to keep the game going," Rodolophus instructed. "We want enough time to beat the crap out of every team member."

Jessica chuckled. "No problem. I do have one request however."

"And that is?" Evan Rosier asked, still grinning from the specifics of the beatings they had just finished planning.

"I want to get Sirius. I know it's going to be hard because he isn't on the team…" Jessica trailed off when Rabastan, who was sitting across from her, stopped his spoon halfway from the bowl to his mouth.

His lips slowly curved into a smile. "I have an idea…"

Everyone leaned in closer to hear it.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

There were two referees for the Slytherin versus Gryffindor Quidditch game, but this surprised no one. It was Madam Hooch and Stephen Medley and both looked ready for war. It was a good thing they were prepared. And it was a good thing both Julie Rin and Jeff Rin had second strings set up and ready to enter the game at any time. Word had slowly leaked about the Slytherins having something extra special planned for this game.

"Today's game is already proving to be an intense one," Frank Longbottom announced a mere two minutes into the game. "Gryffindor has yet to get a hold of the Quaffle…oh, I spoke too soon! Hosen of Gryffindor has the Quaffle and is racing towards the Slyther – ow, that had to hurt! Rabastan Lestrange smacked the Bludger straight as Hosen's nose, and now it's bleeding. Hosen waves off help and wipes the blood with his sleeve. He's going to play with the broken nose! Wo! Ziners ran right into Jim Masterhead, almost knocking him off his broom! Madam Hooch is up there. Will she call Ziners for blatching? Ziners is arguing. Slytherin's Rin is going up to control his Seeker! Ziners is off for a time out!

"Play continues. Rosier of Slytherin has the Quaffle. Racing toward Gryffindor's Keeper like a demon…I would get out of the way if I were Havee…"

The fans watched as Rosier slid right past the entire Gryffindor team and right past the far hoop, sneaking the Quaffle in at the last minute. No one noticed when Lucius Malfoy entered as temporary Seeker, except for Lily who had to start flying away from him because he continually got closer and not once did he appear to be searching for the Snitch. Finally, nervous for Lily, Medley started flying higher and watched the two Seekers.

About ten minutes later, the game was still sounding the same. Jessica, who had re-entered the game the second the clock ticked to the end of her time-out, had found the Snitch several times the crowd knew, but she kept faking Lily out and prolonging the capture of the object.

"Whoa! That Bludger narrowly misses Lynn Reger…ow!" The whole crowd recoiled and then screamed when the Bludger finished another course. Jeff had hit it towards Lynn Reger. However, Rabastan was flying on Lynn's other side, and when the Bludger missed Lynn, Rabastan smacked it hard into the person that had been flying next to him. It was Julie Rin. It had hit her in the face at a very close range.

And to Rabastan's dismay, Jeff reached him before either referee. He grabbed Rabastan's collar and pulled him close. Everyone in the stadium would have paid good money to hear that conversation. Rabastan was already flying down when Medley caught up to him (Hooch was flying to Julie's aid and Pomfrey was right there on the ground when the two landed). Medley got a hold of Rabastan's collar. Hagrid, who had been stationed on the field for this game, was ready to escort Rabastan to the castle, where Filch was waiting, ready to guard the mischievous students.

The game was already continuing by the time Rabastan was on his way to the castle. As Jeff flew by each of his team members, he shouted warnings to them to calm it down, knowing that none would heed him. They were out for blood, and they would have it.

Antonin Dolohov, who had replaced Rabastan as Beater, was grounded not two minutes into the game for a similar reason as Rabastan but not nearly as bad.

Gideon Prewett and Jim Masterhead would get some revenge for the loss of Julie Rin and Lynn Reger (who had been Dolohov's victim) when both boys managed to 'accidentally' send a Bludger into Rodolophus' shoulder, barely missing his head. He would count as their first and only victim to be sent to the Hospital Ward during the game.

Jessica Ziners was watched with trepidation. She seemed to have been assigned to continue this debacle as long as she saw fit, but some noticed that the incident with Julie Rin had seemed to throw her. Despite that, she continued the game until, suddenly, she took a dip and flew near Richard Mulciber, who had replaced Dolohov as Beater. There were words exchanged, an action which caused Medley to keep an eye on Mulciber.

When Jessica flew away from Mulciber, it seemed a slow flight, but that was a false assumption by everyone. It was half a second later when they realized it was an act because she suddenly held up the Snitch, something she had grabbed on her flight past Mulciber.

Just as Medley realized the game was over, he heard a Beater's bat and Bludger make contact.

To be continued…


	19. Fallout

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura

**Chapter 19: Fallout**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). I'm making no money whatsoever off this. Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author's Note:** I'm alive. This proves that yes, miracles do exist!

**Timeline:**

Immediately after the Quidditch game, as the students and professors are returning to the school.

**Quote:**

"The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility."

Martin Luther King, Jr., The Trumpet of Conscience

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"You need to kiss Medley's feet, Black. He's the only reason you aren't dead."

James Potter and his friends turned to see Mulciber being escorted to the castle by Medley.

"Shut up," Sirius bit at him angrily, though everyone around, including Sirius, knew the truth of that statement. After Ziners caught the Snitch, Mulciber had hit a Bludger that had come dangerously close to the stands and was unmistakably directed at Sirius. Everyone's eyes had been on the Bludger so everyone was surprised when Medley cast a spell that actually caught the ball. He had apparently suspected its direction before the other distracted professors could find the location of the beater's bat and the Bludger it had hit.

"Where is Ziners?" one of the Slytherins asked loudly.

James looked further behind Mulciber and his escort to see the Slytherins start to question each other about the missing girl.

"I'll kill her," Sirius growled vehemently. "She gave the order for that Bludger."

"We'll all kill her," Jim Masterhead said.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Jessica was in Dumbledore's office, having been pulled out of the Quidditch changing rooms by Jeff Rin. On the way back to the castle, both still in their Quidditch uniforms, Jeff had started to scream at her. She had let him until Dumbledore had ordered her up to his office to wait.

"That quickly got out of control," Jessica murmured to Dumbledore's phoenix.

"It certainly did."

Jessica jumped a mile. Dumbledore had just entered his office.

"Hi, Sir," she said quietly.

Dumbledore sat down and just stared at her. "This is familiar," he said after a moment.

She nodded, not meeting him in the eye. It had seemed like a lifetime ago when she had visited this office in response to the slippery floor in front of Gryffindor Tower.

"Do you have an explanation for what happened?" Dumbledore asked after a pause.

"Mass hysteria," she mumbled, trying for a grin but not succeeding.

He was silent for a very long time, causing her to turn her eyes up to him and talk. "It's frightening, Sir, how fast something can spin out of control. Something like a broken leg. It was just a harsh push, someone meaning to hold him over the edge of the railing, like many of the other times they harassed Severus. But then it got out of control. They broke his leg. Okay, I can convince the Slytherins to respond nicely. But then the spiders…I've just now stopped itching. But to have them all over me like that…" she shivered at the memory. "…I don't like spiders, but it was almost like being locked in a room. Snakes are worse, but spiders are pretty bad."

"Have you been locked in a room with a snake?" Dumbledore asked. On some level, she knew she was rambling, but today had really frightened her.

She nodded. "A lot of them once and then with just one once, but I had to keep my eyes closed or it would kill me. But, that really bugged me with the spiders. I was angry. And then we got to talking and talking and talking, and we were probably working each other up. So many times, Sir, so many times I've wanted to hurt Sirius, but Professor Rum and Uncle Danny tell me I have to control it, I have to control myself…it just seemed the opportunity. Today seemed like an opportunity to show them all what it's like…and then suddenly I was too far in to stop." The word 'stop' caused her to stop her rambling.

"Sorry, Sir," she said, looking up at him. She was frightened – not at a punishment but at what she had done. There had only been two times before she had felt like this and both times had resulted in someone's death. "No matter how bad a person is, to the world or to just you, there is a certain line you really can't cross. Not because it's illegal or against the rules, but just because…just because it's…wrong."

Dumbledore nodded to her kindly.

"A long time scrubbing toilets or something, right, Sir? As a punishment."

Dumbledore nodded again. "That, and I will have to owl your uncle. I will have to talk to all the parents and guardians."

Jessica sighed and nodded. When she left, she didn't feel any better, but by the time she arrived in the Slytherin Common Room, she had worked up a good front.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Later that night, Jeff Rin, now in his school robes, was summoned to the Great Hall. When he walked in, he saw that his sister was also there, in a t-shirt and jeans and holding an ice pack to her face. Julie looked a lot better than she had a couple of hours ago when Jeff had visited her. Pomfrey had done a great job on her face. All that remained were some minor bruising and swelling.

Julie was sitting in a chair in front of the Head Table. An empty chair sat next to her and the Head Table that sat in front of her was full of all of the professors of Hogwarts. They were speaking amongst themselves. Dumbledore was the only one to acknowledge Jeff's presence. He returned the Headmaster's nod before taking the seat next to Julie.

"How are you doing, Jules?"

She gave him a weak smile. "Good considering. Professor McGonagall said that Dumbledore managed to put a Slowing Jinx on the Bludger before it smacked me. Not in enough time to prevent damage but in enough time for me to keep my face."

Jeff smiled at her before turning it on Dumbledore, both Seventh Years realizing then that the professors had stopped murmuring.

Dumbledore returned the smile before calling the impromptu meeting to order.

"Jeff and Julie, we've called both of you here because you are the Head Boy and Head Girl and both of you are the captains of the Quidditch teams that played today. Separately, we will speak to both of you about the punishments that will occur in the Houses, but we must speak about what happened and the future of the Slytherin Quidditch team this year."

Both kids nodded.

"Mr. Rin," Professor McGonagall started, "did you have any idea that something was going to happen at the Quidditch game today?"

Jeff snorted. "That could have been deduced by anyone who heard that a prank war was going on between the Slytherins and Gryffindors and was still going on when they were going to play a Quidditch game today."

"Mr. Rin, today was not a laughing matter," McGonagall admonished.

Jeff sobered and shook his head. "No, it wasn't. In answer to the question I am assuming you were asking, I had figured that something might happen today, but the other Slytherins kept me out of the planning."

"Why didn't you tell any of the professors?" McGonagall asked.

"Because I knew as much as the rest of you did. Look, Professor, I had this conversation with Professor Rum last night. I had no idea they were planning a violent retaliation until the rest of you did. I would have grounded the entire first string if I had thought it would help, but you know as well as I, even before we had the proof, the second string was as much in it as the first."

There was some murmuring, causing Jeff to sigh and lean back. When the conversations between the professors continued for some time, Jeff started speaking to Julie. "I was informed that you were supposed to be off-limits," he told her.

"Well apparently they forgot to inform Rabastan Lestrange."

Jeff gave a silent chuckle. "Well, _that_ I wouldn't know. He's hiding from me. So is Rodolophus. I informed Bell Black that they better hide for a good long while."

Julie shook her head, but Jeff caught a slight grin when he glanced at her.

"I heard the professors whisper…" Julie said slowly, "…while we were waiting for you. They might require the Slytherins to forfeit the rest of the season."

Jeff groaned. "I was afraid of that. I really wanted to have a great last season."

Julie turned towards him awkwardly, causing Jeff to give her his full attention. "Jeff," she said quietly, "Ziners was prolonging the game so they could get the whole Gryffindor Quidditch Team."

When she fell silent, Jeff supposed she expected a response. He licked his lips before responding. "Yeah, I noticed that."

"I know you feel partial to her, Jeff."

Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Jeff—"

"A hypothetical, Jules," Jeff didn't look at Julie as he spoke, using his hands to talk, acting as if he were laying the situation out before them. "We're the last wizard and witch in the whole world. The Muggles all knew we existed and killed us all off, except for us two because we managed to keep our true selves a secret. But there is one Muggle that knows who we really are, but he's keeping it a secret to use against us. He makes you do stuff, Julie, otherwise he'll reveal who we really are. But you, Julie, tell this Muggle that we don't care if the whole world knows. And then this Muggle tells you that if you don't do what he tells you to do, he will kill me. He will make it as slow and painful as possible and force you to watch every second of my death. You have no doubt this Muggle will do it because you've watched it happen before. So, you're stuck in this conundrum – face a Muggle population that may or may not kill us or imprison us; watch me die a slow, painful, certain death; or do deeds you wouldn't even fantasize about in your subconscious. So you chose option number three. You hate it, you despise it, but as the years go on, your anger builds at the Muggle population that forces this secret. Once in a great while, Julie, you would cross a line. You would follow orders to save my life – you would lash out at the people your Muggle boss tells you to hate, and, once in awhile, you would enjoy it. Despite the fact that in the years to follow, you would kick yourself and never be free of a burden of guilt, but, even though, for moments in time, you would enjoy it."

"A hypothetical, Jeff?"

Jeff looked back at his twin and nodded without a smile. "A hypothetical, Julie. Don't worry. I'll talk to Jessica about her role in the game."

"Mr. Rin, that won't be necessary."

Both kids turned back to the professors, startled. Neither had realized that the professors had stopped talking. Jeff merely nodded at them, knowing that it was necessary to talk to Jessica despite the professors protests otherwise. Professors were a joke to Slytherins. Friends were more important, even to the likes of Jessica and himself.

"We have come to a decision," Dumbledore said. "The Slytherins will forfeit the season."

The twins both shouted 'no' and looked at each other in surprise before turning back to the professors. Jeff started, "No, Professors. You can't do that."

"It's Jeff's last season," Julie added.

"And," Jeff stalled for a second in the guise of adjusting his body in his seat, before his agile mind got something. "And," he repeated, "there is also the bittersweet taste of loss. How about all the Slytherins that participated in the violence today are banned from the team for the rest of the year? I can try-out and train a new team before the game in January. The Slytherins that participated in the bashing will have sit by and look at under-qualified players take over their positions. A few of them are Seventh Years and won't have another chance at the field."

"And what guarantee do we have that the Slytherins will not do this again?" McGonagall asked.

"They don't play the Gryffindors again," Julie answered. "The problems were with Gryffindor, not Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

Jeff glanced at Julie to see a sincerely earnest look on her face. She glanced at him and then back at the professors quickly, smiling softly.

"You're right," she whispered to him when the professors started whispering to each other again. "Plus, it is your last season."

"And you'll get to hold it over me when you guys win the cup," Jeff replied darkly, but he knew Julie would know that he wasn't mad.

"There is that," she whispered, a laugh in her voice. "But, Jeff," her voice took on a serious tone, "if you don't want to play…"

"I want to play," Jeff replied quickly, his eyes on the professors. Jeff knew that he needed to play. Don't get him wrong – he loved Quidditch more than anything, but Jeff understood what Quidditch did for him among the other Slytherins. It did the same thing for him to the Slytherins as the Bludger had done for Jessica to Sirius – it was a power play to remind Sirius that she wasn't a compliant little child. Jeff was not a compliant Seventh Year Slytherin that would go down quietly. He was a good guy, but if it came down to it, if it came down to his sister's life or even his own, that Bludger he beat daily wouldn't be the only thing feeling his strength. Watching Jeff on a Quidditch field reminded the other Slytherins of that.

Jeff's eyes focused on Dumbledore once more to see that he was the only professor that wasn't conversing with his colleagues. He was watching Jeff and Julie whisper, smiling. Jeff returned his look with a half grin.

Dumbledore turned to McGonagall when she started whispering to him. He merely nodded before telling Julie and Jeff that they would be meeting with some professors separately to discuss some details and then punishments.

Julie was led upstairs to the Transfiguration classroom to be talked to by Medley and McGonagall. Jeff was brought to an extra classroom off the Entrance Hall. He was led there by Dumbledore and Rum.

He sat down at a desk, and Dumbledore and Rum conjured comfortable chairs to face him.

"How have the Slytherins been responding to today's events?" Rum asked.

Jeff was quiet a moment and when neither continued, he grinned. "Oh, I'm supposed to actually answer that. For a moment, I thought you knew better than to try to get a Slytherin to turn his back on his house."

"Jeff," Dumbledore started, "You are Head Boy—"

"Yes, Sir, I am, but, with all due respect, this is not part of my duties. And, frankly, you don't need it. You saw the Quidditch game. You have your notions of how Slytherins are. The math is not hard."

"Jeff, do you honestly believe that your solution for the Quidditch season will work?" Rum asked.

Jeff nodded. "Yes, I do. You were a Slytherin, Professor Rum. You surely understand that banning them from an entire Quidditch season will merely prove to them that their own suspicions are right – that non-Slytherins are goodies and idiots. But if you give them a new team, it will prove that you are goodies and smart.

"Look at it this way, those on the team are the leaders in the house – the Lestranges, Ziners, Rosier, Malfoy, all of them are looked up to in the house as being the toughest and the smartest. They will be mad about having to watch an under-qualified team take over their positions, but, not only that, they'll be forced to cheer for them."

"Won't they privately ridicule those that take their spots?" Rum asked.

Jeff was thoughtful for a moment. "No, not if I convince a few choice people to try out. However, if they do, it might be a good thing in the end."

The professors were silent.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"You were excellent, Ziners." Mulciber patted her on the back. "Too bad Medley took care of that ball before we got Black for you."

Jessica forced the smile to remain on her face as she nodded, pressing her chin painfully into her right forearm. _Yeah, too bad_, she thought, glad that no one seemed to have figured out it had not been a coincidence the ball had been stopped. She had waited until Medley was looking and was suspicious before she had made that last move.

Jessica finally moved when Rabastan pushed at her. She had been lying on her stomach on one of the Common Room tables since she finished her dinner. The Slytherins had had their food delivered to their Common Room since all Slytherins but Jeff Rin had been confined to the House until further notice. The same had happened to the Gryffindors Jeff had informed them when he broke the news of their confinement, but it didn't make any of them feel better.

Jessica moved and sat in a chair across from Rabastan, but her lazy, exaggerated actions caused the pushing back rather far of her chair to go unnoticed. The back of her chair now was pressed against the table behind her. This position placed her next to Severus as he fiercely worked on his homework.

She didn't say anything as she stared at the table edge for a moment in thought.

"Act happier. They've begun to notice your quiet lulls, and it makes them suspicious."

Jessica glanced at Severus to see that his eyes had never moved from his homework as he whispered to her. She grinned at him, causing him to roll his eyes at his homework.

"Aren't you happy?" she asked.

"I always find blood baths particularly enjoyable, yes."

She nodded, turning back to the table edge in front of her until she heard Severus take a slow deep breath, an action that always predicted when he was going to ask a difficult question.

"Jessica…did you want to get Black because of my leg?"

She glanced at him, shaking her head then shrugging. "Partly but not mainly. I wanted…I wanted to get him because…because I can't get anyone in here." Her whisper was so quiet that Severus had to lean his head closer to hear.

After a hesitation, he replied, "That doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Black…he's like everyone in here. He thinks he knows me, knows what's going on in my head, when he doesn't get it at all. He assumes, because of what everyone else says, he assumes that he knows that I'm some one-dimensional crony incapable of thinking for myself."

"Just like…You-Know-Who thinks about you?"

Jessica had to bite back a smile at Severus' nervous reference to the Dark Lord, but she didn't comment because she understood it.

"Ironically," she replied quietly, "he's one of the only people that know I very much think for myself. What's more ironic is that he's the only person I wish thought I was a one-dimensional crony."

Severus smiled at her. "No, you don't. You like it when people treat you with your perception of due respect."

Her confusion must have shown on her face because Severus restated, "You like it when people treat you like an intelligent opponent."

She chuckled softly before turning back to Rabastan, who started to recount the game to a First Year and needed Jessica's help on recounting her first penalty.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Stop that."

Casey's left heel stopped tapping. His hands continued clenching and unclenching though, but since that made no noise, it didn't bother his sister.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and Casey could hear the noise of laughter outside the windows from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. There was a storm in the castle though, a terrible thunderstorm. Thunder could be heard up and down the hall and every time the lightening snapped by the door, Casey and Jessica jumped. They calmed tensely when the lightning only merely led thunder to another room. It was the parents being led by the professors. Jessica and Casey were only waiting for their uncle to be informed of their devious deeds and make his way to them.

Another lightning flashed by their door and Casey stared at it after Jessica turned away when they realized this thunder wasn't their thunder either.

"That's the twentieth set to pass our door and considering how many kids were placed in the rooms in the direction from where Dumbledore is leading them, then the average amount of time allotted to tell each parent what their child did – "

"Is this leading to an observation?" Jessica asked irritably.

"We're next."

They were silent for a minute before Casey heard Jessica starting to whisper. He had to lean closer to catch what she was saying.

"…they are like forces of nature, aren't they? Nature makes the world go 'round. Be it a thunderstorm or a sunny day, it's still there, deciding what we're going to do, what we'll wear, what we have to chose from, what we like best. Be them blood parents or guardians, Case, they choose it, and I don't get why they chose what they chose for us."

"This is Uncle Danny, Jess," Casey replied.

"How do we not know he's the same as Tom? In case you don't remember, we once liked Tom."

"That's not what I meant, Jess. You compared parents and guardians to forces of nature. I have a feeling…" Casey heard a now familiar stomp of feet, for Casey was always good at recognizing the feet for a forewarning, "…Mother Nature, I have a feeling, has nothing on what's going to enter our room in a second."

Even while they expected it, when their thunder slammed the door open, both children ended up with their rumps on the floor in surprise. Casey scrambled for his seat but ended up knocking it over again. Uncle Danny angrily righted it for him. When Casey sat down, he glanced at Jessica. She had already returned to her seat and was staring straight ahead calmly, hands on the desk. But she was terrified, Casey knew without even looking into her eyes. Jessica had two tells with her emotions – her jaw muscle and her hands, both areas of which were currently hard at work. Her jaw was clenching and unclenching as it ground the back teeth nervously and her hands…they were the ones that worked most in Voldemort's presence. Her hands were calmly resting on the desk, both hands slightly cupping, the right resting on the left. They were completely still except when you watched long enough. Her right thumb compulsively pushed on the left one then went slack. Every twenty seconds or so it did this, but Casey knew the rate would increase when Uncle Danny started to talk.

Danny looked at the two, his face red and tight, before starting a wildly violent pace in front of them. "I don't even know where to began," he growled. "Of all the Slytherins, I thought you two would know better. I _expected_ better of you two!"

Jessica's head started to move to creak her neck, one of her more arrogant silent gestures, but she thought better of it at the last minute and stretched the lower part of her neck, jutting out her chin slightly, and looking off to her right.

"The only good damn thing you two have done today is keep silent," Danny instructed. Casey looked at him and saw his eyes on Jess. He knew as well as Casey did that she wanted to speak.

"But now talk. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Every word was tightened by Uncle Danny's own tight jaw, and Casey suddenly saw it. For the first time, Casey saw an un-Ziners trait – the jaw tightening. Both he and Jess did it. It was a Montgomery trait. This momentary revelation gave Casey the courage to speak first.

"It started when they broke Severus' leg."

"And who is Severus?"

"Snape." Both men turned to Jessica as she spoke. She continued, "Severus Snape. He's a friend of mine."

Danny opened his mouth then abruptly shut it. He rubbed a hand over it before shaking his head. When he finally spoke, his voice was raspy but the anger still laced every decision of a word. "Casey, I know you've read those damn Auror textbooks of mine. What's the rule on revenge?"

"Revenge begets revenge begets revenge. It turns into a never-ending cycle."

"Jessica, do you wanna be an Auror?"  
And there went the neck creaking. Casey cringed, knowing what was coming.

"You don't get it," she bit out between clenched teeth. "As a Slytherin, I thought you would."

"I get more than you think I do, Jessica!" When Uncle Danny stopped his yell mid-breath and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, Casey suddenly realized that their little family unit was not alone. He turned to spot Professor Medley standing in the doorway.

Casey blew out a noisy breath as he turned and slumped in his chair.

Jessica never moved to check it, but she did ask in his head. He informed her who the supervisor to this meeting was.

But not for much longer because Uncle Danny dismissed him with a firm 'this is family business'.

For a space of about ten seconds, Jessica's thumb taps increased to about five per second, but that stopped when Uncle Danny's hazel eyes latched onto the movement. This, however, did not earn Jess any sympathy.

"It's the family curse that lands us into Slytherin. Slytherin is a result of who we are. Slytherin itself is not what we are, though we still bear the traits deeply."

"Okay, Grandma Jessica," Jessica grinned sweetly at him as she referred to him by her own namesake, Mom and Uncle Danny's mother.

Before Uncle Danny had a chance to react, Casey did. "Jessica, shut up. Just shut up. We're in enough crap."

_We'll always be in this crap, Casey. Always. Get use to it._

_What happened to playing the game?_

_We are playing. And look what happened._

"Casey." Casey almost jumped when she resumed speaking aloud. "This is it. This is what we are."

_But there's no one else that can do it but us,_ Casey responded in their heads.

Jessica, her eyes now on him, opened her mouth…and shut it. Their mental communication remained silent. And then she did the most horrid thing she could do.

She started to cry.

She looked down in attempt to hide the tears, but both males had seen them. They looked at each other, their confusion in part because of their maleness but mostly because Jessica didn't really do this kind of thing often. When she did, there was yelling to cover the emotion. But now…

Silence. There was just silence.

It wasn't the first time she had cried without screaming, but Casey could count the number of times this had happened on about one hand. He didn't like it. It wasn't that she was giving up. She was just dying a little.

Then Casey understood. They were just dying in steps. That's what it was. Voldemort would wear them into nothingness.

Casey slowly turned to face front again. They were two rocks rubbing against each other, they wearing Voldemort, Voldemort wearing them. All to dust. Dust to dust. That's what they were. But Voldemort was a bigger rock.

So what was the point?

Casey swallowed despair, only vaguely aware of Danny attempting some effort of comforting Jessica, kneeling to her level and rubbing her back like Mom use to do.

This was the despair Jessica felt. The despair that had driven her to try to kill herself. That nearly drove her into Tom's arms this summer.

What were they doing it for?

Because they were the only ones that could.

And it was weird then for Casey, despair and strength sitting in the hole of his stomach, weighing him down and giving him the ability to fight. At the same exact time, they sat there.

This is what she felt. This is what Jessica felt.

This prank war. They messed up. But it taught them a very valuable lesson. Don't get caught up. Keep your eye on the larger goal.

"Case."

Casey's head spun to Jess when she whispered his name.

"You're crying."

In surprise, Casey wiped his cheek. He stared at the new dampness on his first two fingers in surprise.

"Mr. Black, you can't go in there!"

The three spun towards the door as Mr. Black stomped in, followed by Medley, who was attempting to unsuccessfully hold the larger man back by his serviceable black robes.

"You!" he pointed directly at Jessica.

Jessica's return look was steady and brave, but Casey could feel the sudden terror grab a hold of her body.

"After what I did for you, you try to kill my son! That's how you repay me!"  
Jessica opened her mouth slowly but the sudden contempt that had seized her eyes kept those in the room silent until she spoke. When she did, her every word was carefully enunciated and her voice was deepened by her attempts to keep every emotion out of it. "I owed you?"

Mr. Black didn't have an answer for that one.

"If it means anything, which it doesn't, it was Mulciber," Jessica supplied.

"One Slytherin's like another," Mr. Black muttered before turning on his heel angrily.

"Like a true Gryffindor."

Casey really had to give Jessica credit for her guts, especially when Black gave true meaning to that name in his return anger.

"You little twit," he growled, starting towards her but stopping when Uncle Danny stood to his full height. "You deserve every punishment they give you. You're damn lucky this time that the other governors are agreeing with Dumbledore and not suspending you."

"Yes, I deserve every punishment," Jessica nodded. "And more. I know exactly how lucky it is I'm not expelled."

"Don't patronize me," he bit out.

"I'm not, you mind-numbing Gryffie. I honestly believe they could lock me in Azkaban for the rest of my life and I still wouldn't be getting what I deserve. What I did was not only stupid but dangerous. People didn't get hurt nearly as seriously as they could have. I could have killed another person. But your son deserved to get scared enough to shit his pants. I won't be sorry for that, Mr. Black. If he can't take it, he shouldn't give it. But, in the end, it happened, it was stupid, I'm sorry for it in general, and I know that my regret can't change it. That's all I have though."

No sound was heard, no response was made, until Dumbledore spoke from the doorway. "Mr. Black, can you please come with me?"

Malcolm Black glanced over his shoulder at Dumbledore before returning to Jessica. She remained turned in her seat, her upper-half turned towards him, her hands gripping the back of the chair, and she stared at him, waiting, preparing, for another verbal assault. Casey was proud of her.

Mr. Black finally turned and allowed Dumbledore to lead him from the room.

When the door was shut, Casey turned back towards Uncle Danny. Danny was looking at Jessica, so Casey turned to her as well. She was still facing the door.

When no one made a sound, she slowly turned and, hands on her lap now, stared at the tabletop in front of her.

"Did you mean what you said to Mr. Black?" Uncle Danny asked.

Without taking her eyes from the tabletop, she whispered, "My sincerity means nothing after a certain point. It's just sitting there, no real meaning. It doesn't really matter that it's there. I just wait for what's next."

"Are you being a smart ass?"

She hesitated then shook her head.

"What happened out there? I want your own words." His voice was a low growl.

There was no doubt that the question was directed at Jessica. She didn't respond right away, just sat there, staring, without life. Casey watched her closely, not sure if he should worry or ask her in her head what was wrong, but she finally reacted. She closed her eyes slowly. When she responded, her voice was barely there, a mere thread. "I…I messed up."

"You're the youngest on the team. They could speak for themselves. But what about you? I thought you knew better."

Her eyes met his briefly before looking over at the wall and then at her feet. "It was my job to prolong the game as long as possible. And I did."

"And then you ordered that Bludger to be sent at Sirius Black. That's on your head, Jessica."

She nodded. "It all was. I prolonged it, even after Rabastan took Julie Rin out. We had agreed, she was off-limits, but…" Jessica's voice caught as she shook her head. She scratched a spot on her forehead.

"You were out for blood," Danny concluded. "And you got a lot of it."

She looked back up at him, her eyes pleading. "But we didn't get Sirius. I knew Medley would get the ball. I made sure he noticed me act suspicious."

Danny shook his head angrily, briefly beginning his pacing again. "You just don't get it, Jesse. You want to be an Auror?" When he didn't get a response, he stopped in front of her and slammed his hands on the desk. The desk jumped and took her with it. When she looked up, Danny was leaning over the desk, his nose an inch from her own.

"You want to be an Auror, Jesse?" he asked again.

Mute, she nodded.

"You've got to stop the bloodshed before it happens."

Jessica swallowed, tears in her eyes. "I can't. There's too much. It's too big."

Before Danny could ask what that meant, Stephen Medley walked back in. Jessica looked down at her feet.

"What is my punishment?"

Daniel stood back up. "I should take you out of Hogwarts if you already aren't suspended."

This brought a vehement response from her. "No! You know I can't leave, Uncle Danny!" Suddenly remembering that they weren't alone, she added, "Mama wanted me to attend here. You know that, Uncle Danny."

Uncle Danny nodded. "Unfortunately, I know that." He looked over at Medley. "What is the school doing?"

"Detention every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday for the rest of the school year, and removal from the Quidditch Team. She is free to try out again next year though."

"Who has the detention?" Danny asked.

"We're splitting them up among the professors, but the Heads of House will be supervising the detentions, making sure they are severe enough."

Danny nodded thanks to him. "Can we be alone again?"

Medley nodded slowly before adding, "I just came in to let you know that Dumbledore would like to see each parent before they leave."

Uncle Danny nodded again. Casey watched Medley leave before turning to find Uncle Danny looking at the ground, scratching at his ear. "What else went on?" he asked to either one.

Casey answered. "It started with the leg, then it…" Casey smiled in remembrance, "…the inability to get into Gryffindor Tower."

"About that, Casey," Uncle Danny said, "be careful in the future. They knew that it was you behind that one. They just couldn't prove it."

Casey didn't look at Uncle Danny so he could smile guiltless at the tabletop before continuing, "Then it was spiders. We tried to keep it clean, but the spiders were it for us – well, Jessica at least. She got bit up pretty bad. She'll probably have scars from that one. We reacted with the boils – and no, that wasn't Jess or me. There is someone in Slytherin good with sneaky wand moves. There was…"

Casey exchanged a look with Jess. The hanging upside down in the Great Hall had been the next one, the one that they had escaped from with the wandless magic. Jess shook her head in response to his asking in her head if he should list it along with the other pranks.

Casey turned back to Uncle Danny and listed everything from the bugs in their bags to James and Sirius' lovely feminine chests courtesy of Rabastan and Severus (though Casey didn't give them credit to Uncle Danny).

"And then the Quidditch game."

_Your memory frightens me._

Casey didn't look at his sister when she commented in his head, choosing to remain looking at their uncle.

"You forgot the snake," Uncle Danny supplied.

"I didn't forget it. Just didn't think it was relevant."

Danny nodded, looking at the ground before asking, "Why is it that you blame everything on Jack Ronson?"

"Because he's the only one near our age at the ranch, and he's a bratty moron," Jessica replied.

Danny smiled slightly at that before sighing. "I just agreed with the story when they asked me. I know it's not the truth because you've had your fear of snakes for longer than three years, the time the Ronsons have actually lived at the ranch. But," Danny sighed again, "I won't ask what the truth is because I know you'll just lie to me."

"Sorry, Uncle Danny," Jessica said, "but I just can't say it right now."

He merely nodded without even looking at her. He was silent for a long time before he knelt in front of Jessica. He grabbed her cheeks, startling her, but when she got over the shock, she let him lead her face nose to nose with his.

He enunciated every word when he spoke to her. "You, my girl, are very capable of leadership. If you _ever_ do something this stupid again, I'll whoop you myself. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, tightlipped. He started to let go of her face, but she grabbed his hands at the last minute and kept him there. "But what if I have no choice?"  
He hesitated before answering. "You _always_ have a choice, Jess. There are school pranks, but there comes a time when you have to stand up and say 'no'. You went past that time, and you didn't remain silent – you said 'yes'. If you _ever_ do _that_ again, I will treat you like I treat one of my suspects. Do you understand me?"

She nodded. He let go of her face and then turned. He grabbed Casey's face. "You, my boy, have a huge brain. If you _ever_ use it for something like this again, I will also whoop you. Do you understand me?"

He nodded.

Uncle Danny let go of him and then looked between them both. "The two of you need to remember something. Your grandmother told it to me and your mother. Before that, she heard it from her own mother. We have no choice about the Slytherin placement, so sometimes we displace it from ourselves. A lot of the time, we don't associate ourselves with the power-hungry in our house. But you have to understand – even though you were directly predestined to be in Slytherin, this doesn't mean that you aren't a Slytherin. You are just as Slytherin as the Lestranges, Malfoy, Rosier, Mulciber, all of them. And you are just as dangerous. It's when you forget that…" Uncle Danny grabbed both of their right hands and held them up, rubbing the center of their palms with his thumbs. "It's when you forget that, that you are dangerous. Never, _never_," he looked Jessica in the eyes and then Casey, "never forget what you are capable of. For every greatness in you, there is an equal and much more dangerous deadliness."

Both kids nodded.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Severus didn't look away from the ceiling as Professor Dumbledore led his parent into the room Severus was being kept in. Salazar's name had not come up in the teacher's investigation of those behind the pranks, so Severus was left to the take the blame. Since his mother was probably coming, he wasn't worried.

That changed when he looked down. His father was standing beside Dumbledore, his face unreadable. After a second of looking at his son, he looked back at the headmaster. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Dumbledore nodded and left. Even after he left, Dad didn't look at him.

"I thought Mum would come," Severus said to fill the silence.

"She wanted to," Dad said before taking a seat beside Severus. He turned and leaned his elbows on his knees. Still, it took another thirty seconds before he looked at Severus. "Why would she want to come, Severus?"

Severus shrugged. "I do not understand her, so I do not know."

Dad ground his teeth before nodding to the ground. "What happened?" he said after another long pause.

"There was a prank war. I apparently started it."

"If someone pushed you over the railings of some stairs, you didn't start it. They did."

Severus shrugged, looking towards the front of the room again. He read the words 'Wingardium Leviosa' on the board. The First Years must have been the last class to be in this room.

"Were you sick at the beginning of this year, Severus?"

Severus spun his head back to his dad. "Wha—um, yes, uh, I was. Mum thought it best to keep me home a couple days. You were in Bolivia, and Mum thought it best to wait to tell you when you got back. And then I got better, so we didn't want to worry you."

Dad looked him in the eyes for a long time. Suddenly, he asked, "Is there something you want to tell me, Severus?"

Severus swallowed, frightened. _Yes, Dad, I want to tell you everything, but I can't because you will get killed and I will get killed and we will die in the most horrible ways, so horrible neither of us can imagine them._

Severus looked back at Wingardium Leviso and shook his head. "No, Dad, there isn't."

He heard Dad sigh. "How involved were you in these pranks?" he asked instead of continuing their conversation.

"In some of the formations and in some of the executions. I wasn't involved in the Quidditch game."

"Did you know what they were going to do at the Quidditch game?"

Severus looked back at him, confused, and nodded.

"Then you were involved in the worst one of them all," his dad told him.

Severus sighed, but he didn't argue.

"I will let your mom see to your punishment."

Severus nodded.

Dad stood up, squeezed his shoulder, and left.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

_Lily, _

_ I'm sorry. _

_ I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore. _

_ Keep the cat. I don't need him. _

_ Jessica_

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

_Jessica, _

_ I'm sorry too. _

_ We're still friends, but we have some serious talking to do. We need to talk face-to-face. _

_ Unless you want to stop being friends, how about we continue to share the cat? _

_ Your friend despite recent events, _

_ Lily_

"A letter? Who's it from?"

Jessica continued to absently pet Crookshanks as she stared at the letter. "No one," she murmured. "Just a friend."

Bertie looked around the empty dorm room.

"I didn't see an owl in here."

Jessica shrugged as she burned the letter with a nearby candle. "You wouldn't. I got the letter earlier today and just now read it."

Bertie sat on her bed. "I've noticed that you burn some of your correspondence."

Jessica nodded. "If you wanna work for You-Know-Who, you should get in the habit of burning your correspondence."

Bertie glanced at her bedspread and sighed.

Jessica caught the action and looked closely at Bertie. Their beds were directly across from each other. "What?" Jessica asked slowly. "Don't you want to work for You-Know-Who?"

Bertie's head snapped up. "Yes, yes, definitely."

_That was a little too eager_, Jessica thought with a smile but looked away in time so Bertie couldn't see it.

"When's your next punishment?" Bertie asked then.

"Tonight with Medley. We're going into the Forbidden Forest," Jessica replied, giving the Forbidden Forest a sarcastic spooky sound, eliciting a small smirk from Bertie. "I think it's Rabastan, Lucius, and me tonight, but they sometimes change it at the last minute."

"I saw that Jeff was advertising for new try-outs. Was everyone cut out from the season, including the second string?"  
Jessica nodded.

"I think…" Bertie replied, more hesitant than usual, "I think I might try out."

Jessica grinned at her. "That's neat, Bertie. What position?"

Bertie blushed and shrugged. "I don't know. I think maybe Chaser."

Jessica nodded. "That's very cool."

"Is your brother trying out?"

"Yeah. For Seeker. Salazar is also trying out for Seeker, unfortunately. I think I might suggest to him to go for Keeper."

Bertie laughed. "He'll listen to you." And it was true, both girls knew. Salazar was still trying to be pals with her.

"Jessica," Narcissa demanded immediately when she entered the dormitory, "tell Rose that she can't try out for the team."

"And why, pray tell, can't she?" Jessica asked with a laugh.

"Well, it's a rough sport."

"Rose," Jessica turned to the raven-haired girl that had followed Narcissa into the dorm, "you up for a rough sport?"  
Rosemary Mavea nodded and both girls looked back to Narcissa.

"Big help, Jess," Narcissa replied, heading towards her bed at the end of the dorm. She stopped, however, at Bertie's bed and flopped down next to her, causing Bertie to roll her eyes.

Rose took a seat next to Jessica.

"Are you guys going home for break?" Jessica asked as she leaned her back against her headboard.

They all confirmed that they were, and then Narcissa asked, "You too, Jess? You aren't too scared of your uncle after the Quidditch game?'

"I have to face him eventually. Might as well be sooner than later."

There was a knock on the door then.

The four looked at it curiously before Rose called, "Who is it?"

"Karen Seth!"

They gave each other looks of confusion. She was in Casey's year. What did she want with the Third Years?

"Come in!" Bertie called when no one else responded.

The door pushed forcefully open and the brown-haired Second Year stepped in.

"Jessica, Rabastan's downstairs. He says that you guys have to head out for detention."

Jessica got up, but she noticed that Karen was barely keeping some laughter restrained. "What is it?" Jessica asked as she was about to pass the girl.

"The boys just found out that they can't get up here."

Jessica chuckled. "They can't? I like that. How is it that they can't get up here?"

"The stairs turn into a slide when a boy steps on them."

Rosemary, Narcissa, and Bertie died with laughter, along with Jessica and Karen.

"That would have been a sight to see," Narcissa said.

"It was," Karen informed them before allowing Jessica passage.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Jeff caught up with Jessica after supper the next night, steering her down the hallway where she had ran last January, after being unable to handle a return to normal living in Hogwarts. "I have to talk to you a minute, Ziners," was his only explanation. She let him lead her, albeit quite nervously. She was still unsure about his reaction to the Quidditch game.

He stopped her in the hallway. It was currently deserted, which wasn't a surprise since it was rarely used. It housed spare classrooms in case of wayward spells hurting the ones they currently used. When Jeff turned on her, he raised his hands in his preparation-to-start-talking gesture, but he stopped immediately, just looking down at her. Jeff was one of the tallest boys in the house and Jessica was as short as a First Year. After a moment of stillness, Jeff sighed and apparently redirected his original intention.

"You feeling sufficiently guilty about the Quidditch game?"

Jessica glanced away. "I was wondering when we were going to have this conversation," she murmured.

"I would have had it sooner, but your bodyguards don't leave you alone often."

Jessica swung her gaze back to Jeff. "Bodyguards?" she asked angrily. She knew whom he spoke of. Rabastan, Lucius, Crabbe, Goyle, Rodolophus, Bell, Narcissa, Rosemary, none of them had left her alone since the Quidditch game. Severus kept whispering to her that she should be happy about the attention, but she felt like she was suffocating. It reminded her of Tom's stare every time she entered a room. Her every move was watched – something Casey had reminded her was a very literal statement. Tom still had his child spy watching their every move.

When Jessica focused back on Jeff, she saw that he looked confused. As she watched, the confusion changed to something else…startled surprise. She wanted to hit herself then. She was so alone in her thoughts most of the time that she forgot how much Jeff knew.

"What did you want to say?" she asked angrily.

"Why didn't you stop it after Julie was hit?"

"I…I don't know." She waited, and it came.

"You don't know, Jessica? That's bullshit!"

"Shhh!" She gestured towards the end of the hallway. No one was there, but she was still nervous about being caught talking to Jeff alone. "Look, Jeff, I didn't want any of it to happen, but it did. This won't help any but I _have_ learned my lesson. I have to do better next time or die trying. I will. I will stop it next time or I'll die trying."

She didn't look at him, choosing to stare at the lower part of the wall. There was a black spot there, as though someone had burned the surface.

He growled and she could sense him shake his head. "You better," was all he said to her outburst, "but this wasn't all I wanted to talk to you about."

She glanced back at him before returning to the wall. "What else did you want?"

"The Quidditch try-outs. Do you know anyone who's trying out?"

She shrugged. "Some."

"Who?"  
"My brother. Salazar Snape. Bertie Magal. Rose Mavea. I don't know who else."

"Good. I was hoping your brother would try out. Look, I need you and your brother to do me a favor."

She only spared him a minor look before returning to the wall. "What?" she mumbled.

"I need you to offer some protection to the new Quidditch team, so they don't get killed for trying out."

This brought a laugh from her. "Okay," she smirked at him. "I'll do what I can. I'll also talk to my brother about it. Can I go now?"  
Jeff sighed but nodded. "Okay. Talk to you later." He left before her, as though angry. She was confused until she saw Rabastan and Lucius staring at them from the other end of the hallway. Jeff was acting, giving her the lead-in for a story about him being the bad guy. She had to bite back a snicker before she could meet the two guys at the end of the hall.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Lily smiled when she saw Crookshanks run up to her. She and Alice were walking outside, taking advantage of the warm winter weather. The snow still covered the ground, but the sun made the outside pleasant to walk. Lily picked up the cat and tried to think of an excuse to leave Alice so she could read the note, but Frank took that choice out of her hands when he walked up and asked to speak to Alice alone.

Once they were off, Lily found a tree which would shield her from prying eyes.

_Lily, _

_ If you have a minute and can lose Alice for a while, meet me at the southern end of the Quidditch Pitch. _

_ Jessica_

Lily looked around and only saw a handful of Ravenclaws engaged in a snowball fight. She had to fight running in her excitement, but she thought she managed a calm gait to the Quidditch field. The doors were locked, as they usually were, so Lily went around the outside area of the pitch. She found Casey sitting on the snow, reading a book.

He glanced at her and then pointed with his thumb over his right shoulder. Lily snickered but followed his directions. Jessica was under the bleachers at the south end of the Quidditch Pitch. Lily ducked under the bars helping hold up the bleachers and was covered in the darkness underneath.

"Sorry, but you said we should talk," Jessica said by way of greeting. She plopped down, and it was then that Lily realized there was a blanket on the ground. Jessica shrugged. "I found it in the Slytherin locker rooms, and I didn't want to get my butt dirty."

Lily smiled and sat.

Jessica looked at her hands, which were moving restlessly around in her lap. "I guess…," she mumbled before whispering, "I'm sorry about the Quidditch game."

Lily hesitated before asking, "Why, Jessica? Why did you let it get so violent?"

"Can't I just be sorry about it?" Jessica threw her a rueful smile.

Lily shook her head.

"It was worth a try." She sighed. "By now you know what Slytherin's like. It's not exactly a choice, Lil. I had to keep the game going to a certain point and not chicken out after what happened to Julie. I'm the one that still has to sleep in Slytherin House, and I'm the one with a brother that still has to sleep in Slytherin House. Casey is my responsibility, Lily. Not anyone else's. I have to protect him. Sometimes I have to do terrible things and for that, I am very sorry. Sometimes, I'll like it, and for that I'm sorry too. But you have no idea how angry…" Jessica sighed again, her eyes straying back to her lap before she shook her head. "Maybe it will be better for you if we end our friendship."

"You should tell someone," Lily said quietly.

Jessica smiled at her, but Lily could tell it was forced. "Tell them what? That I'm a Slytherin? I'm not in trouble, Lil. It's just that…well, being a Slytherin is a lot more dangerous than getting picked on. They can torture you for years. As a Slytherin, you just take it. But I'm okay. I've got good friends, and no one picks on me meanly. It's just that…well, I told you before. Things are just different in Slytherin."

"You don't have to be one of them," Lily told her, feeling a bit angry at Jessica's acceptance of her brutality.

Jessica snorted. "If you only knew…but I'm okay. I'm a Slytherin through and through. If you can't accept that, maybe we shouldn't be friends."

"Do you want to stop being friends with me?" Lily asked, worried at her frequent mentions of it.

Jessica shook her head insistently. "No. I want to be friends with you. It's just…I know that I do things you don't understand. You can't ask me to explain every one of them. If you can't do that, we shouldn't be friends. I have enough to worry about."

Lily shook her head, but she was smiling. She had long ago figured out that she would never understand Jessica.

"So are we cool?" Jessica asked.

"Jessica, you shouldn't engage James and his friends. They never know when to stop."

"They shouldn't have done what they did to Severus. And I tried to slow it down. But…"

"You act too old," Lily told her, laughing.

Jessica looked properly indignant before she laughed too.

There was a knocking sound on the board behind Lily. She turned and found that Casey was walking away from the boards.

"That means that the Ravenclaws are coming for practice," Jessica told her. "You should go."

Lily nodded, and she stood. Before she ducked under the board though, Jessica spoke again.

"Lily."

Lily turned. "Yeah?"

"Since I'm sure Uncle Danny won't allow it during Christmas Break, this summer…do you want to come over for like a week or something? Now that Dad isn't around, you can come over for awhile, and we can get into loads of trouble at the Department."

Jessica's grin was wicked and Lily nodded to it before ducking and leaving.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Jessica was glad when things were squared away with Lily. This happiness lasted until the afternoon when Jessica was told that the old Slytherin Quidditch team was planning to show up at the new Quidditch team's try-outs and be hecklers.

"But Bell, wouldn't it be funny if this new team was really good and beat the other houses? It will prove the superiority of our house."

Bellatrix Black looked momentarily thoughtful at this question.

"The squirt has a point actually," Rodolophus said, patting Jessica on the head. She was use to Rodolophus doing that and calling her squirt, both habits he had adopted during the prank war. She hated it with a passion, but Jessica figured that Rodolophus was one person she could use on her side at times.

Bellatrix shook her head slightly. "I hate it, but she does."

Jessica shrugged. "We should still go to try-outs though, to make sure Jeff doesn't screw up on the choices and pick some half-wit like Crabbe."

Bellatrix nodded, and she and her boyfriend left with the other team members after confirming that Jessica was going to wait for Rabastan.

"You frighten me."

Jessica glanced over to see Severus. He was sitting at a table, in a shadowed corner. "I frighten many," she told him. "Wanna come to the try-outs?" Jessica mentally cringed after she asked the question, worried that Severus would think of last year.

She could tell by his hesitation that he did. He shook his head. "No, thank you."

She shrugged more easily than she felt. "Suit yourself," she said and started towards Rabastan when he came into the Common Room.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The banned Slytherin Quidditch team sat in the stands, all taking glee at the terror this caused in the eyes of the ones trying out. Jessica took a particular glee at the nervous look on Jeff Rin's face when he saw them. _Just you wait, friend_, she thought to herself, wishing she could read his thoughts when he figured out their reason for being there.

They cheered for the good ones, yelled pointers to the moderate ones, and booed for the bad ones. When Jeff figured out what they were doing, he gave them a half smile and shook his head in exasperation. He also ended up taking their opinions into consideration.

Salazar Snape did end making the team – as a Beater, though he did originally try out for Jessica's suggestion of Keeper. Bertie made Chaser. Rosemary Mavea made the team as Chaser as well. To Jessica's pride, Casey made Seeker. Casey had been allowed to try out because the only prank they had caught him in was the one they truly couldn't prove the Slytherins did – the prank of the slippery floor in front of Gryffindor Tower. His only punishment was to receive half of the detentions.

Jeff Rin told her later that he had tried unsuccessfully to talk Maria Ziners into a position. He explained that he thought Quidditch might toughen up her cousin, to which Jessica replied, "Only old age can toughen up Jell-O, and I don't even think Maria will have that much luck."

That night, they partied in the Slytherin Common Room.

"Won't you be trying out against Casey next year though, Jessica?" Rabastan said.

Casey answered the question by shaking his head. "This is only a half year thing for me. I prefer to stay in the library but duty called. Next year, Seeker goes back to being Jess's baby."  
Jessica was surprised. "Cool, Case. Thanks."

Rabastan rolled his eyes at the two. "If only my brother would be so accommodating."

Jessica laughed before excusing herself to the bathroom. She only made it halfway there when she nearly ran into Jeff Rin. He grabbed her shoulder before she could run off and whispered, "Thanks."

"For what?" she asked, confused.

"For talking the old team into supporting the new team. Rodolophus told me about your thought on the matter."

Jessica only smiled and shook her head at him before she walked away.

That night, she wrote to Lily about Casey making the team and told her not to ask any further because that was the only new member she would reveal to the opposing team. She didn't even tell Lily what position Casey made. When Lily responded the next morning, she revealed something that surprised Jessica. Two days prior, when Jessica and Lily had talked under the bleachers, Alice had gone off with Frank because Frank had a birthday present for her. Both Alice and Lily were sure that Frank had a crush on Alice, something Jessica agreed with, laughing to herself when she read the note.

"What are you laughing at?" Narcissa asked.

"What? Oh, nothing," Jessica said, burning the note before she and Narcissa left for breakfast.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Finals went surprisingly easy, considering the cloud that hung over two of Hogwarts' houses. Casey was very tired from Quidditch practice when he studied late at night for his finals, causing Jessica to tease him for being a wimp. He merely started pointing out her multiple detentions, of which Casey only had half, and she quieted.

After their exams were done, Jessica and Casey left the wintry landscape in favor of the comparably warmer air of Texas. But they knew that was a false front, especially when they were greeted at the train station by Uncle Danny's smile. They remained friendly but quiet the entire way back to Briana Manor.

"Maria," Jessica told Uncle Danny pleasantly as they entered Briana Manor awhile later, "didn't get any detention. She tried to brag about that to me, but then Rodolophus made fun of her for not having done anything."

"I know she didn't get anything," Uncle Danny replied without looking at her, even after he hung his cloak. "Your aunt informed me of that."

"Auntie…" Casey muttered with a gleeful grin to his sister, "…how is she doing anyhow? Managing to find a salary after her hubby was locked up?"

Uncle Danny gave Casey a glare. The smile left her brother's face. Jessica barely held in her snicker.

"Come here," Uncle Danny said.

Jessica and Casey were led to the kitchen. Both of them stopped in the doorway, jaws dropped. Uncle Danny turned a grin on them, but his wasn't gleeful – it was sinful. The kitchen was a disaster. It looked like four paint cans and seven dungbombs had exploded. And, Jessica noted as she followed a drip up to the ceiling, it not only looked like a turkey had exploded as well, but there was part of one stuck to the ceiling. A rotten turkey to boot.

"Since you two are apparently very fond of pranks, my team decided to play a prank on you. This," he gestured around the room, "is the start of it." Danny held out his large right palm to the kids. They grudgingly handed over their wands. "Tibby and Ronnie," Uncle Danny said, gesturing towards the two house elves entering from another doorway, "will be keeping an eye on you so you don't use your wandless magic. And, before you try to undermine this punishment, you should know that after I told Malf what went on, he agreed with me and ordered Tibby and Ronnie to do precisely as I asked."

Uncle Danny chuckled on his way out of the kitchen.

To be continued…


	20. The Many Faces

**The Ties That Bind**

**Part 1, The First Rise**

By Laura

**Chapter 20: The Many Faces**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own much of what is in here. I do own the original characters (so, in other words, what you don't find in the Harry Potter series!). I'm making no money whatsoever off this. Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

**Author's Note:** Trying to speed up the rate at which I write these chapters.

**Timeline:**

The winter break during the Third Year of Severus Snape and crew.

**Quote:**

"Dance with the devil, the devil don't change; the devil changes you."

from the movie _8MM_

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Severus Snape did not care for the United States. It was a nice place, but the people were…a bit uncivilized. Severus preferred his England.

Fortunately, they didn't have to mix with the Muggles often. They had visited more magical establishments as opposed to meeting in Muggle places, something that pleased Severus.

To his surprise, he traveled with Master more than his mother. His mother actually separated from them for large chunks of time. Master explained that he preferred to travel with a child because it aroused less suspicion. The reason that Master had requested Severus on this trip as opposed to Salazar was because, as Master told him, Severus was more interesting. And they actually talked. While waiting in restaurants or shops, Master would start a conversation with him. It was not all of the time however – there were times that Master preferred silence. Severus gave him those times, understanding them. Master had told him just today that he appreciated that he did not feel the need to fill silences.

Despite the people, Severus had quite enjoyed this trip. For the first time since meeting Jessica, he felt like someone liked him being around. And of all people, it was Master!

When Severus had first been told about this trip, he had feared that it might have been to inquire about Jessica, but Master had never once brought her up. They usually talked about the Dark Arts. Master also asked about school. A lot about school. But never about Jessica. Or Casey.

Severus was sitting in the hotel room when Master came in. While traveling, they would usually stay in hotels. Master always got Severus a separate room, wanting to give Severus his privacy.

When Severus looked away from his Dark Arts text and saw who it was, he bowed his head to him. "Hello."

Master walked to the bed and sat down. Severus sat by the window, but he had piled some of his school texts on the bed. Master picked up his Transfiguration textbook and started to page through it.

"Your mother has returned," he informed Severus distractedly.

"Thank you for telling me, Sir." Severus went back to his book.

"I've noticed that your mother does not care for you."

Severus glanced up to see that he was looking at him. He shrugged, nervously moving his eyes back to his book. "I didn't notice."

"Now, Severus, are you going to start lying to me?"

He looked back up. Master was smiling at him, causing him to glance at his book again before returning to Master's gaze. "I apologize, Sir. Yes, Mother does not care for me. She does give me an important job for the cause though." Severus couldn't help that memories of his potion testing surfaced while he looked at Master. He knew that Master saw every one of them.

Master nodded. "Yes, she does. And, for that particular service, Severus, you will be greatly rewarded. It's not sniveling brats like your brother that will be rewarded, but those that give a real service to me."

Severus smiled at him, a smile that the Dark Lord returned before looking back at Severus' Transfiguration textbook. "Transfiguration, Severus, is as an important subject for Dark Arts as is Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"In a way, all subjects are, aren't they?"

Voldemort nodded at Severus. "Yes, they are." His voice sounded please. Severus was happy that he had given such a great response.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Elizabeth Murphy showed her face at the bar too much lately. The only good news was that she was almost finished with her investigation of the Dark Operators. The bad news – that was the reason for the increase in attendance.

She sighed as she entered Callie's Bar and Grill. Located on the edge of the Department ranch, it was where all of the Department employees went to unwind. She usually went on Friday nights (as was the case tonight), and it was usually busy (again the case). Sometimes she went alone (as she was tonight) and sometimes she went with one of the other lawyers (which she hadn't for awhile). If she was alone, and it was busy enough, she didn't stay long.

Tonight, it was really noisy, but she really wanted a beer. She walked through the doors, said hi to the head waitress, and then discovered the main reason for the noise. The Dark Operators were having a drink. A lot of drinks to be more precise.

The group sat at the table with the closest and quickest access to the bar. They were strewn around the table haphazardly, with one exception. Riley Haderson stood, his back against the edge of the bar, a bottle in his hand.

She started towards the corner farthest from that particular team of Aurors, but she was spotted.

"Miss Murphy!" Mark Mighter yelled, toasting her with his bottle. "Join us!" He started laughing, revealing that he was already pretty hammered.

Elizabeth held up her hands and started to shake her head, but then her eyes settled on Riley Haderson. He was grinning at her, that maddening, cocky grin, that grin that had charmed all the females in school, that grin that made her want to smack him. That grin that said he thought he was better than she was.

She smiled back and nodded at him then his group. She sat at their table after telling Eddie, the bartender on duty that night, that she wanted a beer.

"You're pretty slaughtered, Mighter, if you invitin' the enemy," Richie Thender whispered loudly. Richie looked only mildly drunk.

"I am drunk," Mark agreed and started laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair.

"Ya cut 'im off 'et, Ed?" Andre'a Kay yelled at the bartender.

Riley held up a hand to prevent the smiling Eddie from response. "Don't worry about him, Kay," he said. "I am the master of the beer tonight."

She grinned before telling Elizabeth, "We're at sup'vi'ory beer tanight. When Ri says we've 'ad too much piss, we get wa'ered down piss."

"That's such a classy description, Kay," Riley told her before slowly sipping at his own bottle. He was on his only beer, which was probably watered down.

"I aim to p'ease," she informed Riley.

"We're not kissing up, by the way," Josh Benson told her, who seemed not too gone yet. Or maybe it was Kevin. She didn't know the difference between the twin brothers yet. "We know that you're just putting the finishing touches on your report."

"You guys are such great secret keepers when you're hammered," Riley told him, causing the other twin to laugh. This twin looked as drunk as Mark.

"We don't have anything to tell," Kevin (or Josh) said. "People!" Kevin (or Josh) yelled, waving a hand wildly in the air. "We don't have any secrets from y'all!"

"You don't?" a girl yelled from the other side, over the noise (mainly laughter) of the room. "Then why didn't you owl me after our date?!"

The other Dark Operators started to snicker as both Benson twins looked worried. They ducked towards the tabletop as though that would hide them.

They started into various discussions after that, each one commenced with and ending in bouts of drunken laughter. Elizabeth finished her first bottle in surprise. She was normally a slow drinker and had originally thought she would start to think of an excuse to leave halfway through the bottle, but without hesitation, she stood up and went to the bar to order a second bottle. After receiving it, instead of going back to the table, she stayed by Riley.

"Why don't you join your team? I'm sure Eddie will keep an eye on you guys. He does for the entire bar."

"Didn't you hear me before?" Riley asked, tossing a smirk her direction. "I'm the beer master tonight. It is a position of great immense power." He chuckled.

"Do you ever give a straight answer?"

"That's considered a bad habit in my line of work, Miss Murphy."

Elizabeth slid onto the stool next to Riley. "Call me Liz."

Riley finally looked at her, straight in the face, a serious expression tightening the muscles around his mouth. "If you don't mind, no." He looked back at his group, the serious expression staying.

"Fine," Elizabeth said, starting to stand up.

Riley growled something under his breath but stopped her by grabbing her arm. He let go when she stayed and then turned to the bar, leaning his elbows on the wooden surface.

"I'm already not the happiest person that Mark invited you over. It has absolutely nothing to do with you personally."  
Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "It has to do with what I'm doing here."

Riley nodded, only glancing at her in his peripheral vision.

"You're afraid if Melovic walks in here and sees us cozy, she'll think I've lost my impartiality."

Riley was silent a moment before saying, "I'm not afraid. Merely concerned. While Danny's threat that we'll continue our activities with or without Department approval – a threat I'm sure you know about already – while that still stands, it has never stood for Danny himself."

"If you guys leave the Department, Mr. Montgomery will not leave, for the sake of his niece and nephew. You're afraid to function without Mr. Montgomery."

Riley snickered but shook his head. "Not particularly. It's…it's his determination to be an ideological force of nature."

Riley looked over his shoulder when loud laughter erupted from his team. When he saw everything was fine, he turned back to the bar and to staring at the bottles of liquor across from them. "It's stupid. I just don't want it to come to that."

Elizabeth gave Riley his space on that answer, looking at the bottles across from them. After a second, she asked, "Why did you join the Dark Operators?"

Riley smiled, glancing at the bar surface before looking at her. "I was asked, that's why. Dan approached me the day after I got my license and offered me the job." He looked back at the bottles. "I said yes before he finished saying that he had a job possibility for me. He got mad at me for saying yes right away and made me wait another day before he would explain the job to me. I ended up having to wait patiently and sleep three nights on it."

"By orders of Danny," Elizabeth said with a smile.

Riley nodded, chuckling. "By orders of Danny. I also had to give him a reason."

"A reason for wanting to be on the team."

Riley chuckled, shaking his head at the bar. "No. Every team member has to give him a reason. He explains nothing further except to say that we aren't suppose to give him a reason for wanting to be on the team."

"What reason did you give him?"

"That's between Daniel Montgomery and me, Miss Murphy," he chuckled at her.

Elizabeth smiled. "I guess that's a good thing though. Can I ask you a difficult question, Mr. Haderson?"

Riley nodded.

"I find it hard to believe that one person can have pure intentions, but that seems to be the case with Daniel Montgomery and his intentions with this team. Is he truly that pure?"

Riley was silent so long, Elizabeth wasn't entirely sure that he was going to answer. Finally, he did, his eyes staring ahead but at nothing. "Grindelwald attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At Hogwarts, they divide the students up into four different houses. The thing determining the child's House is a hat that they call the Sorting Hat. The House they end up in depends on what the Sorting Hat reads in their mind. The brave go to Gryffindor, the loyal to Hufflepuff, the lovers of learning to Ravenclaw, and the determined to Slytherin. Slytherins have a terrible reputation."

"They all tend to be evil," Elizabeth said. "I know about Hogwarts, Haderson."

Riley held up a hand. "Yes but let me continue.

"You just said part of my point though – 'they all tend to be evil'. Grindelwald was a Slytherin. You know what his fate was. Jeffery Ziners and his brother, Jonathon, were also in Slytherin. One is dead, the other in Azkaban. However, Daniel Montgomery was a Slytherin as well.

"The Gryffindors have courage, Miss Murphy, not goodness. The Hufflepuffs have steadfastness to those they chose, not an unquestioning loyalty to everyone. The Ravenclaws have a love of learning, not guaranteed perfect scores. And the Slytherins are determined and have clever cunningness, not evilness.

"Grindelwald, Jeffery Ziners, and Jonathon Ziners all decided to use their determination and clever cunningness for nefarious purposes. This was not a destiny, Miss Murphy. It was a choice. I think you and I can agree that Grindelwald and Jeffery Ziners were rather good at what they did. They approached it without a question of doing what they wanted. They did their work without a thought to anyone stopping them.

"Now, let's take a Slytherin with this _same exact_ determination and this _same exact_ clever cunningness and say that the thing they desire most is beating guys like Grindelwald and Jeffery Ziners. Who is to say that he will not approach this task the same way Grindelwald did to taking over the world or that Jeffery did in whatever he was doing?" Riley shrugged at her. "Sure, Danny Montgomery is not perfect. He gets tired and wants to rest. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does. I've seen it. So has Andorra Dumbledore.

"But, in the end, it's like they say. Half the people with the potential to become homicidal maniacs _actually_ murder. The other half becomes the Aurors that capture them."

"It, unfortunately, can't be as simple as what people say," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Nothing is ever so simple as words. Words are a manmade invention, Miss Murphy. The world and man are not."

"You're awfully philosophical for a Friday night, Mr. Haderson."

"It's Jessica's fault. She and Casey are staying at my apartment tonight. I told them they had no choice when Jessica spouted that line about words being a manmade invention to me this afternoon."

"You regurgitated a 13-year old's philosophy to me?" Elizabeth asked, laughing.

"I work under the belief that Jessica was born as a 40-year old trapped in a child's body."

"That description fits her brother more."

Riley shook his head, facing the bar again. "Nah. Casey is a 75-year old war veteran in a child's body."

Elizabeth laughed again. When she quieted and Riley kept his eyes on the bar, she asked, "So, why did you become an Auror, Haderson?"

"To vanquish evil."

She grinned at his smile.

"Honestly, Haderson. Why did you become an Auror?"

"Other people don't get it."

She looked at him to see that he was staring at nothing again. "Okay, I'll bite. What do you mean?"

Haderson looked up, at the mirror behind the bottles he had been staring so hard at in the beginning of their discussion. "My team…they're a good team. They know exactly what they're doing. And, most of all, they want the job they have. So do I. You're not an Auror. You won't understand."

"Try me."

He grinned at her but remained silent. She smiled back, "I seriously considered being an Auror, so try me, Haderson. I might understand."

The grin still on his face, he snickered but nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a go. Three nights ago, where were you?"

"In my apartment, reading your file on the Louie Goldman murder investigation."

Riley laughed. "Okay, you're a bad example." He pointed at a small group in the corner. It was three men dressed in pinstriped robes sitting at a table. "That is our Muggle Artifacts department. Two of them are married and the third has a dog." Elizabeth laughed at the detail, but Riley ignored her. "Three nights ago, Richards and Mannies – our married guys – were at their homes, with their wives and their children. Miller was at home with his dog, probably reading about something to do with Muggles. They were huddled in their homes, cozy and completely oblivious that not one mile from Richards' home and three from Miller's, Mark, Drea, and I were apprehending Ben Rhymes."

"Ben Rhymes?" Elizabeth asked in startled surprise. He had robbed and murdered three Muggles in the past two weeks. She heard he had been caught but had no idea…judging by Riley's look, he knew she had possessed no idea.

"I do this job so Miller, Richards, and Mannies don't have to worry. So they can live blissfully unaware of the terror around every corner." Riley was silent a second before adding in a whisper, "I do this to hopefully prevent at least one child from having to know the loss of both parents to very bad men."

Elizabeth patted his arm, knowing that he was talking about himself. She had heard about this during their schooling and had read his file, but those were different things compared to seeing him, hearing him talk about it…it was surprising.

After half a moment, Riley became uncomfortable with her touch and turned towards the bar once more but continued to turn the other way to cover up the pulling away of his arm. When his arm was gone, her brain registered for the first time the muscle of the forearm she had been touching, the one that she wanted to touch again. And Elizabeth remembered it surprisingly well. She took a much-needed gulp of beer.

"So, Miss Murphy," Riley continued, leaning his upper body over the bar top, "why did you choose the lawyer profession over the Auror profession?"

She grinned at the bar, tracing her fingers over the top of it in an attempt to avoid looking at him. "Because, Mr. Haderson, there was this one really annoying boy in my year at school. He was so darn perfect, and everyone, and I mean _everyone_ knew that he was going to be an Auror. And not just any Auror, mind you," she shook her finger at him, forgetting her previous discomfort, "but the best ever."

Riley was smiling. "You became a lawyer because _I_ was becoming an Auror."

She nodded, turning red. "Yes, I'm ashamed to admit I did."

He was quiet for so long, she looked back at him. He was frowning. "I was really that annoying?"

"Annoyingly perfect. You were anything and everything. Perfect Student Riley. Greatest Guy Riley. Greatest Athlete Riley. Greatest Looking Riley. Tragic Hero Riley. Oh, and there was just plain Tragic Riley."

He laughed but managed to say, "Oh, you have to explain to me those last two."

"Because you already knew you were Perfect Student, Greatest Guy, Greatest Athlete, and Greatest Looking?"

He shrugged, his face serious. "Of course."

She laughed, causing him to grin.

"You were Tragic Hero because of Vallen's hatred of you."

Riley snorted. "Oh, yes. Fond memories."

"And you were Tragic Riley because your parents. And this is going to sound horrible and callous, but Tragic Riley was the most irritating."

"Hey!" Riley said. "I never once used that to any sort of advantage. I even avoided answering questions about it."

"Ah, yes, you did, and that's what made Tragic Riley so annoying. Because you did nothing with it. It was just there, and when you avoided answering questions, the girls went absolutely crazy. _Oh_," Elizabeth batted her eyes at him in an adoring, fan girl way, "_he's still so hurt by it. He's sooooo sensitive_." She snorted. "I wanted to sock you one after one of those sessions, but then I felt guilty because you really did lose your parents and there was nothing you could do about that."

Riley was laughing. "I would have hated me too. I didn't know that they squealed about that kind of stuff." Riley went to say more but stopped himself, turning to face her, "They really dig that stuff?"

She rolled her eyes. "Impossible Riley has emerged."

He snickered wickedly.

"Riley and Miss Murphy, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-I-S-something-G!!" Mark laughed silently when Riley quieted him with a spell.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

After Jessica and Casey returned from sleeping over at Riley's, Uncle Danny thought they were in good enough spirits and suggested that they all visit the scene of the crime a year and a half past. Andorra had come for lunch and offered to stay when Uncle Danny told her what they were planning. After lunch, they walked to the study to do the deed.

They stood at the end of the hall. Uncle Danny and Andorra both stood behind them, letting them set the pace to this. The hallway led to Dad's study. The door to the study had not been opened for many months now, and it had been even longer since Jessica and Casey had been near it. Uncle Danny, according to Malf, had planned to open it almost two months ago but had gotten distracted. He had not been near it since.

"Only one way to do it," Jessica told Casey, and she smirked at him before taking the first step. Casey followed her.

And then, suddenly, it was Christmas Day again. The abrupt memory jarred her to a startled stop, making her blink and look around. She smiled jerkily at Uncle Danny and Andorra when they gave her concerned looks. When she faced forward again, she couldn't help but glance at her brother. He was staring at the spot the statue had stood.

"How did I trip into that statue again?"

"Your feet then me. I'm the one that fell into the statue," Jessica answered before taking another step. She stopped and turned partially when Casey didn't follow. His eyes were closed.

"Casey, he isn't going to be coming out of the study. If he did, Uncle Danny's here to kill him."

Slowly, Casey's eyes opened. He stared at her for a moment before nodding. He took another step to be equal with her. They walked to the front of the door together. Jessica lacked hesitation as she opened it.

"A thousand times," Casey whispered. "Were we ever in here without him?"

Jessica nodded. "I was. A few times. So were you, when you were younger."

Jessica never noticed the looks her uncle and his boss exchanged, looks that mingled with curiosity and anger, looks that would never have an answer, looks that were sure they didn't want to be answered.

Casey followed his sister into the study. Jessica realized immediately that he shouldn't be here. For some reason, she had thought they would have cleaned up. Casey had seen his clothes and the towels used to clean him afterwards, but he hadn't any idea what the scene looked like. Unlike his chaotic, horrible clothes, the scene was a mixture of both terrible and concentrated here, on this carpet Jessica had stared at for years. The blood was in the spot he had been tortured on. Just his blood was there. It was no longer or wider than his back, but the spot was so concentrated that it looked like a thousand ink wells had been dropped there. Casey slowly walked passed his sister and stood by the spot, staring at it, and she knew what he was seeing. The possibilities. Unlike other children who dream of the possibilities of fame, brilliance, and power, Casey's possibilities were not nearly as optimistic. They were of his death and how close he came to it nearly one and a half years ago.

Jessica turned from her brother, knowing he needed time. Instead she traversed to a spot that still rang slightly red. It was where her head had laid after Father had knocked her out. She hadn't realized that her head wound had bled so much. Suddenly, she turned towards where Father had stood. With a clarity she hadn't known she was capable of, her brain went back to that day. She had to blink in order to clear his image from her head. Jessica looked at the ground where he had stood, where he had fallen.

"Isn't it weird, Casey, how the only one not to leave a mark of blood is the only one that didn't survive?"

"What?" Casey asked, coming out of his revere and looking at her.

"Isn't it weird that Dad was the only one who didn't leave a mark of blood in the room and he is the only one that didn't survive?"  
Casey nodded after a hesitation, staring at the spot where he had stood. "I…" he said a moment later, "I never saw his dead body." He looked at their uncle.

Uncle Danny looked at Jessica, who explained, "I asked Uncle Danny for no funeral. Just for him to be taken care of. Sorry. You were awake, but I still wasn't sure about your survival. Uncle Danny agreed with me, but I said I would tell you when you realized there was no funeral. Sorry that I didn't talk to you first."

Casey, still looking at that spot, shook his head. "No, that's fine. He was dead to me long before he died."

"The day he murdered your mother?"

Both kids nearly jumped when Uncle Danny spoke his question. His voice was gritty, making Jessica nervous.

Casey only paused a second before nodding. "About that time, yes." He stared back at the spot of his own blood before turning to her. "Was it scary? Seeing me like that?" He nodded towards the spot.

Jessica didn't move for a time, thinking about that day. She didn't know how much time had passed when she turned back to Casey and remembered he had asked her a question. She looked at her own tiny blood spot to answer. "I remember knowing what was going on and realizing what I had to do. I think I was terrified, but I knew I couldn't get too lost in the fear. I had to do what I had to do." She looked back at her brother. Her little brother. Small for his age. Skinny. Glasses. Suspenders. "When I woke up in the Hospital Ward, and I was alone despite the fact that you were right next to me, that was…I knew I was terrified then, and it's all I could feel for a long time, other than the guilt."

Casey bit his lip and nodded, looking at the ground. "We will never be punished in this room again, Jessica," he said softly. Looking up again, his expression serious, he added, "You did the right thing."

"You're here, Case. I did the right thing. You were right about Mom. Not the best choice in the world, but it's better than the other option."

"A lesser of necessary evils." Casey's grin was wicked.

Jessica groaned and rolled her eyes. "Dude, do not quote Severus to me. I get enough of the boy at school."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The husband and wife Auror team stepped into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Moody and seven other Aurors were there already, milling about the place. Marcus and Brittany walked up to Moody but before either said something, Marcus felt someone walk up to him. He turned and saw Sean McKillian, the Department Mind Examiner that had been hounding him for months.

Sean was a 6'2" brown haired licensed and badge-carrying Auror. He was built like a field Auror, but this was not the usual protocol for Mind Examiners – even if they worked in Magical Law Enforcement. Ever since Sean took over the Law Enforcement division of Mind Examiners, his own protocol called for healthy and fit Mind Examiners, so they could do field work.

One would think that Sean and Marcus would get along great – both were the youngest divisional heads in the Ministry and the youngest divisional heads each of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ever had – but neither cared for the other too much. But Sean certainly had made a habit of riding Marcus' back as of late.

"Sorry about tagging along," Sean said, "I was curious."

Marcus barely controlled the urge to roll his eyes and only merely nodded at Sean before turning his back to the man. Sean got the point and had the audacity to chuckle as he walked over to his two men.

"At least he only brought two of them," Moody said. "And one of them is Sam Grady."

Marcus barely smiled at the news. Moody had a special spot for Sam – he himself had trained the man to be an Auror.

"Either way though," Marcus replied, "they'll unfortunately still be a nuisance, which is the only thing they do with perfection. But on to much happier topics. Is everyone here for the raid?"

Moody nodded. "You two are the last to arrive."

Marcus smiled. "Okay, let's get on with it."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Severus Snape and Rabastan Lestrange stood in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, casually browsing amongst the robes but more so looking through the display window at the ice cream parlor. They watched the inconspicuous Aurors exit the store. Rabastan chuckled; Severus smiled. The Aurors wouldn't find much.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Mr. Borgin," Marcus said to the storeowner upon their entrance. He held a parchment up to the man's face. "This is a search warrant for your store, signed by His Honor, Malcolm Black, and executed by the Major Case Division of Magical Law Enforcement, Ministry of Magic."

Borgin put up the usual fuss, but Marcus left Brittany to take care of that. He ordered people about before taking himself on his own mission to the back of the store, where no regular customer dared to tread. As he walked into the back storeroom, he had a feeling, a cold feeling that slithered along his spine. He looked around the storage and thought to himself, 'we were expected', and then he shook his head. They couldn't have been.

Unless…

He shook his head again and started on his work.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

A week later, Marcus stewed at his desk.

The raid turned up nothing when it should have at least turned up a tiny bit of something. The investigation of Rebella Snape was at a virtual standstill. Voldemort had been silent since the Muggle deaths. Marcus was nervous.

Moody was now off the radar. Brittany was gone for even longer periods of time. When she was in the office or at home, she was cranky. Scooner was in an uproar. Malfoy was tracking his every move. Marcus was cranky.

So, this morning, he came into the office, poured himself some tea, closed his office door, ignored the newspaper, and stared at his list – the list of people who had come into the Ministry the night Adam Rin had been murdered. But this time, he wasn't waiting for the name to jump out at him. He wasn't registering the names at all. He was remembering that night, talking to Adam Rin, listening to him laugh, watching him listen as he told the man about the suspected abuse of Jessica and Casey Ziners. He remembered the venom in his voice as he responded, he remembered watching him sign the Order of Removal. He remembered leaving the office. Marcus was the last person to see him alive. Marcus was the reason he was dead.

That last thought caused Marcus to focus back on the list. Voldemort wasn't on this list. He couldn't be. He wasn't on this list. Was he a random nobody? No. Marcus had a feeling that Lord Voldemort couldn't stand to be a random nobody. He would need to be noticed, he would need to see the results of his 'lordly' actions. From the second Marcus had heard the name _Lord Voldemort_, the whispered reverence, the toxic lace of envious fear, Marcus knew this man, felt him in his bones.

For a moment, Marcus allowed his memory to resurface of that night in Knockturn Alley. It had been just a few months before he had become the head of Major Cases; he had been doing some surveillance work. A trip to Diagon Alley on the books, but a cape with a hood allowed a small detour. He had covered his head and slipped into a side alley. It had been Professor Dumbledore that had taught him the trick. A hood to cover your face, a determined stride, never recoil, never stop. That allowed you to traverse Knockturn Alley undetected. Marcus had done so that night and had wandered into a little shop at the end of the alley, one that sold potions.

The shop was crowded, which is what drew him inside. Everyone in the store had pulled their hood off, which was fine with Marcus – he had transfigured into an elderly man before entering the alley. There were whispers traveling through the place like lightening:

"Are you sure he is coming?" an old woman wheezed.

"Yes, yes," her equally wheezing friend said. "Malfoy said so."

"Will he actually do what Grindelwald couldn't?" another growled, this one an old man.

"I know him," a fourth said, his head still covered. The others gasped in recognition, but Marcus had no idea, even to this day, who the fourth was. "He is brilliant beyond your wildest dreams," the man continued. "He knows more than Grindelwald ever did, more than I do, more than all of us here. He hates Muggles, Potters, Longbottoms, every one of them, more than any being here does. He will not waver on his fight, and he will never die."

"He will never die?" the first woman said and snickered. "Grindelwald muttered that same nonsense."

The unknown man laughed. "But Grindelwald also wavered. I have known this man since he was a mere boy. Trust me, he breathes this war like none before, like none now."

"But will he do what Grindelwald never did?" the other man growled. "Kill Dumbledore."

The unknown man chuckled deep in his throat. "Yes. Unlike Grindelwald, he has a weapon against Dumbledore. It will take some time to cultivate, but the day the next war starts will be the same day Dumbledore will die."

"Take some time? How long?" the first woman demanded. "Days? Years?"

"I'm afraid it will take some years, but do remember what we all said to Grindelwald – he was doing too much at once. Our resources were stretched thin. This time, we'll take out the Ministry's best resources before the Ministry even realizes we're there. Dumbledore will be the last to die of their weapons. And then we will commence with the formality of war to complete the domination of England. After that, the other countries will be quick to fall. Carrington, Stephens, Bryans," the unknown man said, looking each of the three in the eye as he identified them by name, "I have heard his plan, I have seen it laid out. It's already in motion. It's perfect. Get on board with it now, before you no longer can. Lord Voldemort…" the man paused as his tongue seemed to slow on the name, delighted, "…Lord Voldemort is god. Not metaphorical. He is god, our god. The one we always knew would come and save our souls. Lord Voldemort."

Marcus no longer remembered when the man left or even when Marcus himself left. Voldemort never showed up, at least while Marcus had been there, but Marcus knew the words would haunt him. There had been plenty of witches and wizards that had attempted to follow in Grindelwald's footsteps, men and women that were now either dead or in Azkaban. There was nothing that night that, in Marcus' mind, should have set Voldemort separate from the crowd, but Voldemort _was_ separate, he _was_ different. Marcus had felt it when he had heard the name. _Lord Voldemort_. A ridiculous name surely. But something about it, something deep inside Marcus said not to ignore this one, not to assume he would be taken out lightly or quickly. Some _thing_ that had festered in Marcus' brain, some _thing_ that had kept him up that night and the night after, some _thing_ that had stayed with him for months, that had followed him as he was promoted to head of Major Cases, that had followed him as he settled into that job, that had followed him as Tom Riddle came back to the Ministry and ran his way up through the ranks in a matter of months, and that something finally ran into James getting excited for school. It was that last one that made Marcus' brain snap into action.

He had been in the break room one day, drinking his tea, talking with Tom. For the first time, Marcus mentioned the name aloud. He told Tom about the meeting that night, about this unknown man, about a man named Lord Voldemort. Tom had listened quietly, nodding in encouragement for him to continue when he started to taper off in embarrassment. Finally, after he told Tom he was afraid for James to grow up in fear as many children had during Grindelwald's reign of terror, Marcus stopped and sighed.

"Maybe I'm just a lunatic. Voldemort is probably like every other croney who likes to pretend they can do what Grindelwald couldn't." As Marcus said this, Tom was sipping his own tea. He finished and set the cup down, a smile on his lips.

"Marcus," he said, a light laugh apparent in his voice, "you're the head of Major Cases, right?"

Marcus chuckled. "Um, yes, I am."

"You're also the youngest man ever to be the head of Major Cases, correct?"

Again, Marcus chuckled. "Um, yes."

"And they only promote men to the head of Major Cases who are blithering idiots, right?"

Marcus laughed. "I do sometimes wonder about that."

Tom laughed too. "Yes, that could be true at times but not with you. You do good work. You're a damn good Auror, Marcus. I heard your name plenty outside of England and not entirely among Aurors. For the underbelly of society to be saying the name of an Auror as young as you, it does say something about the man. If your intuition tells you to go after this man, do so. Talk to Crouch, tell him you believe that we need to go after this man aggressively."

Marcus looked away a moment in thought, which caused Tom to speak again. He was quieter this time though, but nonetheless, his words drew Marcus' gaze back.

"I even offer you my services." Tom smiled softly when Marcus' return look was full of intense surprise. "If you think this will be another Grindelwald, one that has a real chance to be a Grindelwald, I believe you. And I don't want to live through another Grindelwald. Marcus, I was one of those children that lived in the fear during that man's reign. I don't want another child subjected to that kind of fear." The last part was said with such conviction that Marcus finally agreed. He talked to Crouch that very afternoon.

To Tom's great frustration, the job was never delegated to him directly, a desire he eventually hinted at. Marcus wanted this himself, he wanted to be the one knee deep, running the show, active in every way. Tom was delegated to second chair, and though Marcus had offered to give Tom his own chance to head other investigations, he insisted that he still wanted a seat in the Voldemort investigation.

Marcus shook himself out of his memory and focused on the list once more, the list of the people in the Ministry the night Minister Rin had been murdered. No, Marcus no longer suspected that the name would jump out at him. But was it some random nobody that had found his way into the Ministry? No, it wasn't. But was it a random name? Just someone from Magic society that Marcus had never met? No, Voldemort had waited for Marcus, killed Rin knowing Marcus was near, wanting Marcus to know that he was there and had done his deeds while Marcus had been close enough to save Adam Rin. Voldemort wasn't on the list in front of Marcus, but he was on _some_ list.

There were the people on this list. There were the citizens of Magic society, some citizen that had snuck in here. But there was a third group that Marcus had not considered. High level Aurors didn't have to write their names down when they came in because they didn't have to always use the front entrance. There was a short cut, straight into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

There were three Aurors on this list in front of Marcus. Three low-level Aurors. The only high-level Auror that had been in the building that night, to Marcus's knowledge, had been Marcus.

Could he have been wrong? Marcus had suspected a leak in the Ministry, but could it be a high-level Auror?

Could Voldemort be a high-level Auror?

Someone knocked on Marcus' door. He jumped but smiled at Tom when the man walked in, remembering that this was the man that encouraged him to openly investigate Voldemort. Tom gave him a confused look. Marcus just chuckled and told him to sit.

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About twenty minutes later, Tom Riddle left Marcus Potter's office. A week ago, Marcus had garnered some knowledge of a meeting that was to occur between some of Voldemort's followers. Tom had possessed no knowledge of this meeting and was delighted to do as his supervisor had bid and investigated it.

It turned out to be among people Tom had never met or heard of. They were not following Lord Voldemort, but they did want to fight a war against the Muggles. Tom would have invited them to join the true fight, but they were too conspicuous. They also were meeting under Lord Voldemort's name, which irked Tom. He had no qualms about arresting them, even though their only charge was stupidity. For Lord Voldemort, that was enough of an offense. Plus, it was Tom Riddle's job for the Ministry – it was all in a day's work.

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The Dark Operators were in that conference room once more. It was the same room where they had been introduced to Tatianna Melovic about ten months previous. This time it wasn't early morning – it was late afternoon.

The Dark Operators had known something was up when they were all summoned into work this morning. Nothing happened until this afternoon though but, either way, they weren't surprised. The first thing any one of them noticed upon their arrival this morning at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was that their supervisory squad was missing, and Andorra Dumbledore was nowhere in sight. It had been quickly discovered that Tatianna Melovic was in a meeting, and Elizabeth Murphy was with her. No other news had reached Melovic's secretary, so she could not relay any to the Operators. However, the Dark Operators did not need it. Today was the day.

Their review was done.

Shortly after their morning of poking about the office for news and subsequent eating of lunch, they were summoned to the conference room. Riley and Danny were sitting next to each other. Riley was leaning back, feet propped on the table. Danny was slouched as much as possible in the chair, arms crossed, a disturbed look scrunching his face. The other Dark Operators sat farther away, knowing this mood of their boss well enough and knowing to avoid it.

"If they disband us," Danny said unexpectedly, his voice quiet enough that the others couldn't hear it, "I want you to take the willing participants and go to England to help with this Voldemort problem."

"I've thought about that and decided on 'no, I won't'," Riley replied quietly.

Danny glared at him in surprise.

The young man barely looked at his boss before looking at the Dark Operators at the other end of the conference room, joking around tensely, their nerves also on edge for the results of this investigation. "I've thought about it, Danny, and I decided 'no'. You'll stay away from us now because you have Jess and Casey to think about, and this team cannot function without a grounding." He gestured towards the others, "Their fear of you is the only thing that keeps the ideology of this team strong, the only thing that keeps them from turning. If we were to go to England and operate on the dark side of the law…I don't think we'll stay as we are."

"Don't you have faith in your compadres?" he asked, his voice angry.

"I have every faith in the fact that they're human. As much as this investigation was frightening, you do have to admit you understand Melovic's reasoning for it. We are handed all of the power in the world and with the government's blessing. The only thing keeping us from becoming drunk on the power is your stranglehold on our ideology."

"They'll listen to you," Danny told him as he looked too at those at the other side of the room.

"But I can't even guarantee myself. You know I can't, Danny. And you were the only thing that kept me from going all the way on that track. But, Danny…damit, I've seen you turn away bigger things than I did that time. The only power you want is the power to take down the bad guys. I've never seen anything like it, and I don't think I ever will. Maybe in Andorra's brother, but…I don't think Albus Dumbledore would be that willing to lead a merry band of misfits. Maybe if the stakes were high enough, but in a general peace, I don't think he would approve."

Danny smiled slightly at some distant memory, an unexpected snort of amusement making itself heard before he opened his mouth to speak again. Before he got his first word out though, Tatianna Melovic walked in. She was followed by Elizabeth Murphy and Andorra. All looked tired.

The Dark Operators stood up, nervous tension clenching every muscle in each body.

To be continued… 


End file.
